CONTACT - Guernsey Chamber of Commerce

the inclusion of accountants,
auditors and insolvency practitioners
(to the extent they were not already
covered) within the regime.
one may wonder whether criminal
masterminds would contemplate
laundering their ill-gotten gains
through the medium of postage
stamps but it is nevertheless a real
risk, given the portability of the
items themselves. the frequency
of transactions involving bullion in
Guernsey has brought the dealers
into the aMl fold (as it is not just
legitimate investors who have sought
to protect their asset bases during the
recent crisis), joining the remaining
accountants, auditors and insolvency
practitioners who were previously not
covered. this “spreading of the net”
is to be expected as criminals utilise
new variants of old techniques to
disguise the origins of their plunder.
the new provisions are all
designed to strengthen the regime
and close a few of the potential
loopholes that previously existed.
there will, no doubt, be further
changes to be made in future but it
is to be expected that these will be
directed at specific industries, or
problems that arise, rather than any
wholesale reforms of the system.
Summary
Guernsey’s aMl regime can, on the
one hand, be viewed as a burden - an
unnecessary barrier to doing business
which would otherwise be done more
swiftly and at less expense. However,
this view ignores the reality of the
global marketplace in which we
operate and the framework in which
the world’s leading economies are
either operating or working towards.
it also omits to consider the volume of
business that is directed to Guernsey
because of the strength and reputation
of Guernsey’s regime and the desire of
many businesses to be seen to transact
through recognised jurisdictions.
care should be taken however,
to ensure that having raised the
bar to distance itself from some
historically jaundiced views of the
offshore world, this is not detrimental
to businesses in Guernsey.
Guernsey has the infrastructure
to attract further business and
to maintain its position in the
marketplace; the challenge for
Guernsey in the future will be to
ensure that it remains responsive,
flexible, but also robust.
www.guernseychamber.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 | CONTACT | 35