AML/CFT

Who is caught

Jersey's AML/CFT/CPF regime reaches across the financial sector through several overlapping instruments: the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 and its Schedule 2, the Proceeds of Crime (Supervisory Bodies) (Jersey) Law 2008, the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008 and AML/CFT/CPF Handbook, the sector Codes of Practice, and the beneficial ownership disclosure regime. The documents indexed here define who falls within scope and what activity triggers obligations.

Schedule 2 businesses

• Financial institutions, DNFBPs and VASPs: Persons conducting Schedule 2 activities as a business, for or on behalf of a customer, must register with the JFSC under the Supervisory Bodies Law; the Article 36 guidance sets out a non-exhaustive 'conducted as a business' test (holding out to the public, profit motive, level of compensation, multiple activities or customers).
• Virtual asset service providers: Providing a platform for virtual asset dealing, or services over instruments enabling control of virtual assets such as custody of cryptographic keys, brings a person within the VASP definition even if they do not deal on their own account.
• Trustees of express trusts: Acting as trustee of an express trust is in scope; Non-Professional Trustees are deemed financial services business without meeting the 'as a business' test.
• In or from within Jersey: A non-Jersey entity is in scope where managed and controlled from Jersey, having a physical presence, or having employees or agents operating in Jersey with a degree of permanence undertaking Schedule 2 activities.

Regulated sectors and entities

• Financial service business: Persons carrying on investment business, fund services business, AIF services business, trust company business, money service business and general insurance mediation business under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998, plus deposit-takers and insurance permit holders, are subject to sector Codes carrying AML/CFT requirements.
• Jersey entities: Companies, foundations, incorporated and separate limited partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships fall within the beneficial ownership disclosure regime under the Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law 2020.
• Funds and their providers: Jersey Private Funds and their Designated Service Providers are Schedule 2 businesses that must comply with the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008 and the Handbook; existing Private Placement Funds and their administrators remain subject to AML/CFT obligations.
• AMLSPs: Eligible fund services and trust company businesses may act as Anti-Money Laundering Services Providers to help customers meet AML/CFT obligations, though the underlying responsibility remains with the relevant person.

Sources: Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law 2020 · Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 · Guidance on interpretation of 'in or from within Jersey' for the purposes of Proceeds of Crime (Supervisory Bodies) (Jersey) Law 2008 · Guidelines on interpretation of Article 36 of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 · Jersey Private Fund Guide · Jersey Private Placement Fund Guide · Travel Rule guidance note · Guide to Anti-Money Laundering Services Provider Application Process

Key duties

The continuing obligations combine registration, appointment of financial-crime officers, periodic filings and declarations, ongoing customer due diligence, and open dealings with the JFSC. The recurring dated obligations are the annual confirmation and declaration cycles and the JFSC's supervisory risk data collection.

Registration and officers

• Registration: Persons must not carry on financial service business without registration under the FS(J)L 1998, and persons conducting Schedule 2 business in or from within Jersey must register under the Supervisory Bodies Law.
• MLRO and MLCO: Registered persons across the investment, money service, insurance, trust company and Schedule 2 regimes must appoint and maintain a Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Money Laundering Compliance Officer; a sole trader is deemed to be their own compliance officer under the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008.
• AMLSP no-objection: No individual may act as an AMLSP MLCO or MLRO until notified to the JFSC and confirmed as no objection.

Filings and declarations

• Beneficial ownership: Jersey entities must provide beneficial owner and significant person information on establishment, notify the Registry of any change within 21 days of becoming aware, and submit an annual confirmation statement (1 January to end of February each year, or as prescribed).
• Nominated person: Each entity must appoint at least one eligible nominated person and notify a replacement within 21 days of a resignation or removal.
• Annual declaration of compliance: Registered banks must produce a Declaration of Compliance each accounting period covering AML/CFT compliance, reported on by their auditor; insurance permit holders must submit an Annual Declaration confirming AML/CFT/CPF and Code compliance; sole trader trust company businesses must file the Annual Registration Fee and Update Form by 31 January.
• Supervisory risk data collection: Registered and supervised persons must complete and return the JFSC's SRDC workbooks by the stated deadline; the 2025 SRDC is issued 2 February 2026 with submission due 30 April 2026.
• Fund returns: DSPs of Jersey Private Funds must complete the JPF Annual Return accurately and notify material issues via the prescribed form within 28 calendar days of becoming aware.

Ongoing controls and notifications

• Compliance monitoring plan: Registered and supervised persons must maintain a documented, risk-based compliance monitoring plan covering regulatory and financial crime obligations and the AML/CFT/CPF Code, reported to the board as a standing agenda item.
• CDD and monitoring: Firms must apply customer due diligence, monitor transactions for suspicious activity, file suspicious activity reports, and keep records; VASPs must additionally comply with the Travel Rule, ensuring required originator and beneficiary information accompanies transfers.
• Business risk assessment: Schedule 2 applicants and registered persons must perform and maintain a Business Risk Assessment and consider the Sound Business Policy in customer and business risk assessments unless exempt.
• Sanctions: Relevant financial institutions and supervised persons must comply with targeted financial sanctions on terrorist financing and proliferation, freezing designated persons' funds without delay.
• Cooperation and notification: Registered persons must deal openly with the JFSC, notify material matters and changes in principal and key persons, and engage on discovered non-compliance, reporting breaches where required.
• Remediation: Where an examination or finding identifies deficiencies, registered persons are expected to prepare and submit a remediation action plan, with the JFSC showing low tolerance for plans running beyond 12 months.

Sources: Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law 2020 · Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 · Insurance Business Code of Practice · Investment Business Code of Practice · Money Service Business Code of Practice · Guidance Note: Compliance Monitoring · Countering proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and its financing (Guidance on countering the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction) · Guidance on interpretation of 'in or from within Jersey' for the purposes of Proceeds of Crime (Supervisory Bodies) (Jersey) Law 2008 · Guidelines on interpretation of Article 36 of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 · Jersey Private Funds Annual Compliance Returns · Guidance Note: Natural Persons carrying on a single class of Trust Company Business · Guidance Note: Remediation Action Plans · Sound Business Policy · Travel Rule guidance note · Updates to our 2024 supervisory risk data collection (2024-09-27) · Updates to our 2025 supervisory risk data collection · Guide to Anti-Money Laundering Services Provider Application Process · Deposit-taking Business Code of Practice - Declaration of Compliance

Exemptions and carve-outs

The instruments provide several carve-outs, though AML/CFT obligations typically continue even where registration is not required.

• Non-Professional Trustees: Non-Professional Trustees of express trusts are not required to register with the JFSC but remain subject to AML/CFT/CPF obligations as modified by the Proceeds of Crime (Duties of Non-Professional Trustees) (Jersey) Order 2016.
• Not in or from within Jersey: Schedule 2 activity provided solely from outside Jersey, advice merely received in Jersey, an overseas person dealing with a person in Jersey, and a customer giving effect to a contract from within Jersey are not treated as carried on in or from within Jersey.
• Intra-group and similar arrangements: Financial institution activities must be for or on behalf of a customer to be in scope; intra-group, employee and sole-owner arrangements are generally excluded unless third parties or other activities bring them in.
• Low Risk Financial Services Business: Financial services businesses exempted under the Proceeds of Crime (Low Risk Financial Services Business) (Jersey) Order 2024 need not consider the Sound Business Policy in their customer and business risk assessments.
• Transitional sole trader disapplication: Until 30 September 2024, sole trader Schedule 2 directors were relieved of certain form requirements (risk assessment, written AML/CFT/CPF policies and procedures, and MLRO appointment), though CDD, transaction monitoring, SAR filing and record-keeping still applied.
• Travel Rule out-of-scope transfers: Transfers within the same VASP or between VASPs acting on their own behalf, and transfers below EUR 1,000 absent suspicion, are out of scope of the Travel Rule.
• Bank Declaration waivers: The JFSC may waive or vary Declaration of Compliance requirements under Article 17 of the Banking Business (Accounts, Auditors and Reports) Order, provided no customer or client is likely to be prejudiced.
• SRDC exclusions: Independent registered NPOs that are not Prescribed NPOs are excluded from the SRDC; insurance permit holders not meeting the in-or-from-within test are excused from the insurance sector workbook but must still complete the Section I footprint workbook.

Sources: Guidance on interpretation of 'in or from within Jersey' for the purposes of Proceeds of Crime (Supervisory Bodies) (Jersey) Law 2008 · Guidelines on interpretation of Article 36 of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 · Sound Business Policy · Travel Rule guidance note · Updates to our 2024 supervisory risk data collection (2024-09-27) · Schedule 2 Supervisory Bodies Law Registration Form: guidance for individual sole trader Schedule 2 directors · Deposit-taking Business Code of Practice - Declaration of Compliance

Enforcement and penalties

Enforcement runs from criminal offences for unauthorised activity and false information, through civil financial penalties, to public statements and referral to the prosecuting authorities. Breach of a Code of Practice is not itself an offence but is a ground for regulatory action.

• Unauthorised business: Conducting Schedule 2 business without registration where required is an offence carrying up to 7 years' imprisonment and a fine; the JFSC has issued public warning statements against unregistered and impersonating entities and individuals.
• Criminal offences: Providing false or misleading information, and non-compliance with the disclosure, notification, annual confirmation or nominated person duties without reasonable excuse, are offences under the Disclosure Law; the FS(J)L 1998 also creates offences for supplying false information and for market abuse.
• Civil financial penalties: The JFSC may impose civil financial penalties on natural persons for significant and material contraventions of the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008 or a Code of Practice, using four bands: up to £10,000 (failure to notify), up to £200,000 (uncured), up to £300,000 (negligent) and up to £400,000 (intentional or reckless), with early-settlement discounts of up to 50% and a right of appeal to the Royal Court.
• Enforcement in practice: The JFSC imposed a civil financial penalty of £86,803.19 on a trust company business acting as DSP for negligent contraventions of the Trust Company Business and AML/CFT Codes, reflecting a 50% early-settlement discount.
• Code-based regulatory action: Non-compliance with the investment, money service or insurance Codes is a ground for JFSC action including written directions, public statements, financial penalties, or revocation or cancellation of registration or permit.
• Examination and remediation tools: For potentially serious examination outcomes the JFSC may apply enhanced supervision, issue directions or written warnings, require engagement of a regulatory consultant, or refer the matter to Enforcement; ineffective remediation may lead to escalation or safeguarding directions.
• Late filing fees: Failure to complete and return an SRDC request by the deadline is a Code of Practice breach that may trigger a late filing fee.
• Criminal referral: The JFSC may refer possible criminal offences discovered in its functions to the police and the Attorney General, considering seriousness, deliberateness, cooperation and regulatory history; prosecution remains solely a decision for the Attorney General.

Sources: Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law 2020 · Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 · Insurance Business Code of Practice · Investment Business Code of Practice · Money Service Business Code of Practice · Civil Financial Penalties on Natural Persons: Methodology for Determining the Amount · Guidelines on interpretation of Article 36 of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 · Guidance note: making a referral to the police and/or the Attorney General (2024-04-16) · Our approach to examinations and the assessment of examination outcomes · Guidance Note: Remediation Action Plans · Updates to our 2024 supervisory risk data collection (2024-09-27) · Garfield Bennett Trust Company Limited (2025-08-06)