Consultation on Jersey Financial Services Commission Civil Penalties Extension (2021-07-07)

Summary

This is a summary of a now-closed Government of Jersey consultation (run alongside a related JFSC consultation) on proposed amendments to the civil financial penalties regime under the Financial Services Commission (Jersey) Law 1998. The proposals aim to make JFSC's power to fine firms and individuals for anti-money-laundering and terrorist financing breaches more effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

• Scope expansion: Extends the civil financial penalties regime to designated non-financial businesses and professions such as lawyers, accountants and estate agents.
• Personal liability: Brings directors and senior management within scope, meaning they could be personally liable for fines.
• Related JFSC review: A parallel JFSC consultation proposed streamlining the decision-making process for imposing regulatory sanctions to make it quicker, less complex and lower-cost.
• Draft legislation: Proposed changes would be enacted via the Draft Financial Services Commission (Amendment No. 8) (Jersey) Law 202- and the Draft Financial Services Commission (Financial Penalties) (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Order 202-.

The consultation period closed on 1 September 2021 and a response paper was subsequently published. This document itself imposes no ongoing compliance obligations; it reflects proposed, not yet confirmed, changes to JFSC's civil penalty powers.

Applies to

Firms and individuals regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, Designated non-financial businesses and professions (lawyers, accountants, estate agents), Directors and senior management of regulated entities

Deadlines

• 01/09/2021: Deadline for submitting comments on the consultation (consultation now closed)