1. International Co-Operation (Protection From Liability) (Jersey) Law 2018
The International Co-operation (Protection from Liability) (Jersey) Law 2018 protects public authorities in Jersey against claims for costs, damages or consequential losses when acting in matters of international assistance.
This assistance could include obtaining evidence or information, obtaining assets, conducting investigations, conducting searches or providing assistance in any legal proceedings. Such assistance would usually be provided by H.M. Attorney General and certain other public office holders and bodies in Jersey.
The Law was adopted by the States Assembly on 10th July 2018. The Law received Royal Assent on 10th October 2018 and was registered by the Royal Court on 19th October 2018. Article 5 provided that the Law would come into force by an Appointed Day Act.
2. Banking Business (Amendment of Law) (Jersey) Regulations 201-
On 21 May 2019, these Regulations were made by the States and came into force on Tuesday 28 May 2019. These Regulations amend the Banking Business (Jersey) Law 1991 to make provision for limited disclosure of information held by the Jersey Financial Services that originated from a participant in a college of supervisors established under Article 116 of Directive 2013/36/EU.
3. Update for submitting online financial statements
On 9 May 2019, the JFSC extended the submissions date for financial statements with a 2018 year end by 30 working days from the original statutory due date. Regulated firms need to submit their financial statements online via the myJFSC portal. The process does not apply to entities with a deposit taking licence or regulated funds.
4. Written Question: British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies Public Register of Beneficial Ownership
The Crown Dependencies question to Her Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce a public register of beneficial ownership for the Crown Dependencies, and other tax havens for which the UK has responsibility was answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford:
“It is important to note that the Crown Dependencies are self-governing jurisdictions with their own legislative assemblies, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and courts of law. They have confirmed they will develop public registers of company beneficial ownership once it has been established as a global norm.
In October 2018 the UK Government launched an international beneficial ownership transparency campaign to shift global norms by encouraging and supporting more countries to implement free to access and publicly available company beneficial ownership registers by 2023. In line with this campaign, the UK Government will encourage the Crown Dependencies to voluntarily introduce measures to improve the transparency of their company ownership.
Similarly, the Overseas Territories are self-governing jurisdictions. However, in accordance with the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, the UK Government will prepare an Order in Council by the end of 2020 requiring all Overseas Territories to have fully functioning publicly accessible registers in place by the end of 2023. The UK Government will work consensually with the Overseas Territories on introducing publicly accessible registers, which includes through technical workshops.”