Jersey praised for money laundering 'crackdown'

Jersey had to make a number of changes after the last report in 2009

Jersey's efforts to crack down on money laundering have been praised by a Council of Europe watchdog.

Moneyval, the body which examines jurisdictions' compliance with international laws, said the island had a "mature and sophisticated regime".

However, it did call for moves including more investigations into money-laundering.

The report also suggested more powers for authorities to be able to confiscate assets from offenders.

It said more rigorous checks could be done on who owned or benefited from particular funds and companies.

Moneyval found Jersey was co-operative with other jurisdictions, and had a robust system in place to deal with any breaches of the law.

Low conviction rate

A spokesperson said: "Jersey has an internationally-recognised mechanism to ensure transparency of beneficial ownership information.

"However, the number of money laundering convictions and confiscations is relatively low given the size and characteristics of the island's financial sector."

Independent experts from Moneyval started analysing Jersey in 2015 to investigate whether the systems used to detect money laundering and financing of terrorism were up to scratch.

There are 35 banks, 150 trust companies and 500 investment funds in Jersey.

The island had to make some changes following recommendations made in the last assessment in 2009.

The States of Guernsey agreed to an increase in fines for money laundering earlier this year, following a report by Moneyval which criticised Guernsey's sanctions.