Financial Services Business (Enforcement Powers) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020

Summary

This is the core Guernsey law that gives the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) its enforcement toolkit across the Bailiwick's financial services regime. It sets out the Commission's powers to gather information, investigate, discipline, and take action against licensees and other regulated persons under the supervisory laws (banking, investment business, fiduciaries, lending/credit/finance, insurance and insurance intermediation). It is a lengthy consolidated statute covering information gathering, licence revocation and suspension, prohibition and disqualification orders, financial penalties, market abuse, administration and intervention regimes for failing licensees, appeals, and criminal offences.

Who it applies to

• Licensees under the Protection of Investors Law (controlled investment business)
• Licensed banking institutions under the Banking Supervision Law
• Licensed fiduciaries under the Regulation of Fiduciaries, Administration Businesses and Company Directors Law
• Licensees under the Lending, Credit and Finance Law (Part II, III and IV licensees)
• Licensed insurers, licensed insurance managers and licensed insurance intermediaries
• Authorised or registered collective investment schemes, applicants for licences, and former licensees

What it does

• Information and investigation powers: Gives the Commission powers to demand information and documents, appoint inspectors, investigate suspected offences, and obtain court warrants.
• Enforcement actions: Allows the Commission to impose enforcement requirements, object to holders of supervised roles, suspend or revoke licences, impose licences, and disapply exemptions.
• Prohibition and disqualification orders: Enables prohibition orders against individuals and disqualification orders against auditors and actuaries, with public lists maintained.
• Sanctions: Provides for private reprimands, enforceable undertakings, public statements, discretionary and administrative financial penalties, and public announcement of enforcement proceedings.
• Market abuse regime: Establishes a market abuse code, related offences and penalties, and Royal Court powers to impose financial penalties for non-compliance.
• Insolvency and intervention: Sets out dissolution, winding up, administration management order and intervention (injunction) regimes for licensees, including insurers.
• Decision-making, appeals and offences: Governs the Commission's decision-making process, rights to make representations, appeals to the Royal Court and Court of Appeal, and criminal offences (false information, tipping off, market abuse offences).

Across all of this, licensees have an overarching duty of open and cooperative dealing with the Commission, and the law imposes disclosure, information-gathering cooperation, and electronic filing requirements as part of the Commission's supervisory and enforcement functions. The version summarised here is a consolidated text incorporating subsequent amending Ordinances and Regulations.

Key obligations

• A licensee must deal with the Commission in an open and co-operative manner and keep it promptly informed of anything concerning it or its business that ought reasonably to be disclosed (section 5).
• Licensees and other relevant persons must comply with the Commission's requests for information and documents made under its information-gathering powers (sections 7 and 8), and cooperate with appointed inspectors.
• Persons must not disclose information in breach of the confidentiality restrictions in the Law, and must not engage in falsification of documents during an investigation.
• Persons subject to a prohibition order must not act in breach of it; breach carries personal liability.
• Persons must not use restricted business descriptions or names without permission from the Commission.
• Documents required to be submitted to the Commission must be submitted in electronic form and by electronic means as prescribed.
• Persons must not disclose information in a way that constitutes an offence of 'tipping off' in connection with investigations.
• Administration managers appointed under the Law have ongoing duties to report information and submit statements of affairs, and to protect customer interests.

Applies to

licensees under the Protection of Investors Law (controlled investment business), licensed banking institutions, licensed fiduciaries, LCF Part II, III and IV licensees (lending, credit and finance), licensed insurers, licensed insurance managers, licensed insurance intermediaries, authorised or registered collective investment schemes, applicants for licences, former licensees, auditors and actuaries of licensees

Related documents

• This document amends Financial Services Commission (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987 (Consolidated text)
• This document amends Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (Consolidated text)
• Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2022 (Consolidated) amends this document
• Financial Services Commission (Fees and Administrative Penalties) Regulations, 2024 is made under this document
• Code of Market Conduct is made under this document