Channel Islands push back on Russian money claims

The governments of the two biggest Channel Islands have pushed back on claims made by an MP in parliament that they are not doing enough to tackle Russian money coming through the islands.

Labour MP Lloyd Hatton told the Commons that, since February 2022, more than a quarter of all suspected sanctions breaches were made using intermediary jurisdictions, including Guernsey.

He said: "Time and again we've seen that offshore financial centres like Guernsey and Jersey have been caught up in sanctions evasion, that's simply not acceptable."

External relations lead for the States of Guernsey, Steve Falla, said: "Guernsey is in lock step with the UK on the implementation of sanctions."

The Government of Jersey mirrored Guernsey's stance.

"Jersey implements sanctions in lockstep with the UK, and we work closely together to ensure they are enforced," it said.

"There is no evidence that Jersey presents a heightened sanctions threat to the UK.

"When assessed against international standards, Jersey is recognised alongside the UK as one of only three jurisdictions globally with the highest ratings for risk understanding and national cooperation, and it also holds one of the strongest ratings for corporate beneficial ownership transparency."

The criticism from Hatton stems from a report by the UK government's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), published last year, which stated: "Since February 2022, just over 25% of suspected breach reports received by OFSI from UK financial services firms have made reference to intermediary jurisdictions.

"The following jurisdictions feature most often: British Virgin Islands; the Republic of Cyprus; Switzerland; United Arab Emirates; Guernsey; Luxembourg; Austria; and Türkiye."

Hatton called for the islands to create public registers of beneficial ownership, in an effort to make tackling financial crime easier.

"At the moment, we simply find it very hard to know exactly who owns what in these Crown Dependencies," he said.

"We cannot follow the money until we have a public register of beneficial ownership.

"All Crown Dependencies should be operating fully open public registers."

The Government of Jersey pushed back on that criticism: "UK law enforcement agencies have multiple routes of access to Jersey's beneficial ownership information, which have been in place and effective for many years.

"Such facilities allow the UK to access information within 24 hours or in urgent cases within an hour. These delivery times are some of the best in the world."

In April last year, the States of Guernsey approved plans to consult on allowing access to the island's register of beneficial ownership to those with a legitimate interest.

Deputy Falla said: "We are at the forefront of beneficial ownership transparency, as concluded by Moneyval when they awarded us a rating only achieved by a few jurisdictions in the world, in respect of this standard."

A BBC Freedom of Information request revealed nearly £72m of Russian assets have been frozen in the Bailiwick of Guernsey since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion in 2022.

And in 2023, an investigation by BBC Newsnight revealed the connection between a Russian oligarch and a Guernsey firm.

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