News

On 19 June the governments of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man have issued a joint statement of their commitments to align themselves with the principles as set out by the EU’s Fifth Anti Money Laundering Directive and move towards a public register of beneficial ownership for companies, as that becomes the international norm.

The Crown Dependencies have been in ongoing discussions with the EU and UK about the EU’s most recent directive on anti-money laundering, which sets out a timescale for Member States to adopt a common approach to establishing central, interconnected and ultimately public registers. The aim is to develop a consistent international standard.

With offices in both Guernsey and Jersey, Bedell Cristin understands the emphasis that the governments in these jurisdictions place on tackling financial crime. We support a move towards consistently-applied, internationally-accepted standards to help to achieve this.

Both Islands have held central registers for many years, which contain accurate and verified data (unlike many other countries). This puts the Islands in an advanced position of transparency, with the main change being that this information will eventually become publicly available. 

You can read the full press notice here.