Consultation on proposals regarding sustainable finance (No. 3 2025)

Summary

This is a JFSC consultation paper (No. 3 2025), issued 26 May 2025, seeking industry feedback on proposed amendments to its Codes of Practice and related Notes covering two of the three lead actions in Jersey's Sustainable Finance Action Plan: sustainability risk (physical and transition risk) and business integrity risk (anti-greenwashing). A third action area, corporate sustainability disclosures, is being handled separately and is not part of this consultation. The proposals are not yet in force; they are subject to consultation feedback before finalisation.

• Sustainability risk proposals: Would add wording to Codes/Notes requiring integration of material sustainability-related risks, opportunities and impacts into governance, business model, strategy and risk assessment; strengthen business resumption, disaster recovery and contingency arrangements to address sustainability-related disruption; and seek views on a possible de minimis exemption for smaller businesses.
• Business integrity risk proposals: Would add a new Code provision requiring that sustainability-related claims about a registered person, its products or services be backed by credible evidence and not be unclear, misleading or unfair, extending existing anti-greenwashing measures to new sectors.
• Codes affected: CIF Code, Banking Code, FSB Code, IB Code, InsB Code, MSB Code, GIMB Code and TCB Code, with detailed sector-specific proposed text set out in Appendices A to H.
• Who is affected: All registered persons governed by the JFSC's Codes of Practice, i.e. deposit-taking businesses (banks), fund services businesses and Jersey collective investment funds, investment businesses, insurance businesses, money service businesses, general insurance mediation businesses, and trust company businesses.
• Timeline if adopted: Revised Codes are targeted to be published on the JFSC website at the start of a one-year transition period (target Q1 2026) and become effective at the end of that transition period (target Q1 2027), giving firms time to embed changes into systems, controls, and policies and procedures.

The JFSC and Jersey Finance Limited (JFL) are both accepting comments on the proposals until 4 July 2025, with JFSC planning to publish consultation feedback and near-final Code drafts in Q3 2025. No binding obligations currently apply from this document itself; it is a consultation on future rule changes.

Key obligations

• Respondents wishing to comment must submit feedback to the JFSC or, alternatively, to Jersey Finance Limited, no later than 4 July 2025
• If adopted as proposed, registered persons would need to integrate material sustainability-related risk consideration into governance, business model, strategy and risk assessment, proportionate to their size and scale
• If adopted as proposed, registered persons would need to ensure business resumption, disaster recovery and contingency arrangements are tested at appropriate intervals to mitigate sustainability-related risk
• If adopted as proposed, registered persons would need to ensure any sustainability-related claims about themselves, their products or services are backed by credible evidence and are not unclear, misleading or unfair

Applies to

registered persons, deposit-taking business (banks), fund services business, Jersey collective investment funds (CIF), investment business, insurance business, money service business, general insurance mediation business, trust company business

Deadlines

• 4 July 2025: Deadline for submitting comments on the consultation to the JFSC or via Jersey Finance Limited
• Q3 2025 (target): JFSC plans to publish consultation feedback and near-final draft Codes of Practice for all industry sectors
• Q1 2026 (target): Relevant revised sections of the Codes of Practice are expected to be published on the JFSC website, marking the start of the one-year transitional period
• Q1 2027 (target): Revised Codes of Practice are expected to become effective at the end of the one-year transition period