Commission prepares for launch of Applications and Authorisations Portal
In the November edition of The Leopard, we shared an important milestone in the development of our Applications and Authorisations Portal (A&A Portal) – the first phase of industry testing. Fast forward to today, and after five months of industry engagement, we are in the final stages of checks ahead of a planned Beta launch later this month. The Beta launch will see a significant number of the investment, insurance and fiduciary applications go live on the A&A Portal. The online A&A Portal will simplify the submission of applications, as well as the authorisation process, making it significantly easier for people to start financial services businesses in the Bailiwick. Once it goes lives, the new portal will be accessible via the Commission’s Online Services page, alongside the Online Submissions (OS), Personal Questionnaire (PQ) and Director Registration Regime (DRR) portals. Anyone will be able to register on the new portal and submit an application – you do not need to be an existing licensee or a current user of the Commission’s portals. The development will bring multiple benefits to applicants, including:
- Conditionality and guardrails in application forms will help to improve quality and completeness and will mean that only relevant questions will need to be answered
- Previous submission information can be imported into new applications, reducing the need for manual input for follow-on structures or repeat submissions
- Storing all documents and correspondence in one, secure place with the ability to download the application, supporting documentation and communications together
- The ownership of both current and past submissions made via the portal can be transferred both within an organisation and to external third parties, if necessary.
We have been working on the development of the new portal for well over a year, and we know for it to be a success it must work for both industry and the Commission. As such, we would like to say a big thank you to those industry associations and firms who have provided feedback, input and challenge throughout the process, including by participating in the industry testing during the alpha release. Some of the changes we’ve made in response to feedback include:
- The ability to collaborate
One of the key messages from industry at the beginning of this process was the need for several parties to be able to collaborate on an application. We took this on board and have developed options for multiple individuals to be involved in the drafting of an application, sharing all or just specific sections, redacting where necessary and managing user permissions.
- An activity feed
The system now includes an activity feed to clearly show the most recent actions taken by you or any colleagues working on the same application. The activity feed will also show any new actions, messages or comments from the Commission after an application has been submitted. It is worth noting that Authorisations and Innovation Division staff will not be able to see an application until it has been submitted to the Commission.
- Group permission functionality
A new group permissions function will enable permissions to be assigned and applied across many applications at the same time, as well as enabling the easy addition and removal of users at a group level, making it even easier for the application owner to control the level of access granted to individual users.
Attendees at our 2025 Industry Conference in March saw a preview of the new portal and some of the developments our team has made in response to the feedback received. If you missed it, you can watch a recording here. Our assessment of applications will also take place on the internal part of the A&A Portal and, if successful, an applicant will receive their licence, registration or authorisation via the A&A Portal. This process will provide greater transparency to the applicant because the user will be able to see when their application is under review and the messaging facility will enable secure exchange of information during the process. Most of our applications are currently turned around in line with our service level standards. The new system will enable us to monitor these even more closely and accurately, potentially helping us to reduce some of our turnaround times. While the process for applications and authorisations will change, the Commission’s risk-based approach to assessing applications will remain the same. Our staff will still be at the end of the telephone for any enquiries, and we are happy to talk to those who want to discuss innovative structures or prospective applications. We value the early contact we have with applicants as it enables us to understand the business and to provide a steer as to what we will be looking for in an application or any requirements the firm might need to meet. Alison GaveyCo-Director of Authorisations and Innovation |
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2025 Industry Conference: Looking ahead – enhancing the Bailiwick through innovation, simplicity and ease of use
More than 500 industry representatives joined us on Tuesday 11 March at Beau Sejour Leisure Centre for our 2025 Industry Conference “Looking ahead - enhancing the Bailiwick through innovation, simplicity and ease of use.”
Attendees heard updates on the banking and insurance, and investment, fiduciary and pension sectors, including key trends and what’s on the horizon, and learnt more about our focus on simplification, ease of use and using technology to drive innovation and make the Bailiwick a more attractive place to do good business.
Following the publication of the Bailiwick’s MONEYVAL mutual evaluation report in February (more on this below), our Director of the Financial Crime Division, Fiona Crocker, talked attendees through the report’s findings and what it means for supervision and firms.
We closed the day out with a panel session, moderated by Rosie Allsopp, Director of Communications at Guernsey Finance. She was joined by President of the Policy & Resources Committee and Chairman of Guernsey Finance, Deputy Lyndon Trott OBE, and our Director General, William Mason. They shared their reflections on the opportunities for Guernsey.
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New address for the Guernsey Financial Services Commission
From Tuesday 6 May 2025, visitors to the Guernsey Financial Services Commission should come to the Commission’s new reception and meeting rooms at Regency Court on Glategny Esplanade in St Peter Port.
Director General William Mason, said: “Whilst we have restricted the growth in our staff numbers over the last 12 years to a greater extent than many of our peers in other jurisdictions, our numbers are increasing modestly given both the increasing need for increasing technology skills as well as the additional work which the Bailiwick’s MONEYVAL report’s recommendations place on us.
“In the run-up to the MONEYVAL evaluation, we ran a series of outreach sessions for industry on what to expect from the inspection. The feedback we received was positive, and we will build on this as the majority of the MONEYVAL recommendations can be addressed in the most proportionate way through industry outreach and engagement. The new space, which is two doors down from the Commission’s Glategny Court office, will enable the Commission to host up to 150 people for industry outreach and events. The number of engagements we have in our offices with firms has also increased leading to capacity limitations at key meeting times which tend to work best for firms. We wish to maintain our ability to have face-to-face conversations with firms as we think this is generally superior to most other methods of communication. With all this in mind, we have taken some additional office space in Regency Court, with our reception and meeting spaces, which will be able to hold significantly more people, moving to the new office.
“To this end, we look forward to being able to further strengthen our industry engagement and hold outreach events for up to 150 people from industry from September onwards.”
The Commission’s postal address will also be changing. The new address will be:
Guernsey Financial Services Commission, Regency Court, Glategny Esplanade, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3HQ
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Commission welcomes Guernsey’s positive MONEYVAL report
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission welcomed the findings of Guernsey’s Mutual Evaluation Report by MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe’s permanent monitoring body, published on Monday 10 February 2025. The report confirmed that the Bailiwick takes a robust approach to countering money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. Speaking about the report, the Commission’s Director General, William Mason, said: “The report recognises and reaffirms that Guernsey is a safe and secure jurisdiction that does not tolerate financial crime. This outcome is the result of a Bailiwick-wide effort and I would like to thank our staff, industry and other official sector actors who made a significant contribution to many of the immediate outcomes in the lead up to, during, as well as after, the onsite inspection in April 2024.” “Our result for supervision (IO3) is not unexpected, with only the Holy See receiving a higher rating in the whole of the MONEYVAL peer group. The report highlights the Commission’s good quality and thorough onsite examinations, which are complemented by other supervisory tools such as our leading AML technology, thematic reviews, as well as our industry training and outreach initiatives, which the report noted helped improve the overall compliance of regulated entities with AML/CFT obligations. That we are requested to do more but in a similar vein, in some areas probably indicates the proportionate approach the Commission endeavours to take to the international obligations to which the Bailiwick subscribes.” Fiona Crocker, the Commission’s Director of the Financial Crime Division, added: “Whilst the report recommends a number of actions relating to supervision, these are manageable, and we do not anticipate any fundamental changes to our supervisory approach.” The full Mutual Evaluation Report can be found here, and more information can be found on the States of Guernsey website. |
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Developing technology and helping facilitate prosperity
As part of our commitment to ensure the Bailiwick is appropriately positioned internationally as an attractive hub for business and as part of our ongoing programme to use technology to automate, reduce administrative burdens and enable good quality supervision, we are pleased to announce the appointments of (in addition to their existing deputy director roles):
- Conor Osborough as Head of the Technology Innovation Unit;
- Liam Cunningham as Head of the Technology Supervision Unit; and
- Nick Herquin as Head of International Co-operation and Economic Enhancement.
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Thematic review – client money in the Investment and Fiduciary sectors
In February, we issued two thematic reports on Client Money arrangements for the Investment and Fiduciary sectors.
We found that firms utilise a robust control environment to appropriately segregate and reconcile Client Money, thus ensuring its safety. We also found that the vast majority of licensees hold Client Money with Approved Banks. Whilst we recognise that access to Approved Banks may come at a financial cost and with time, our findings support that Guernsey remains open for business.
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Talk aims to improve the financial literacy of Guernsey’s young people
Drawing on their own experiences of becoming financially independent, four graduate analysts from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission gave a talk to Blanchelande College sixth form students last month.
The talk, which coincided with Global Money Week (17-23 March 2025) - an OECD initiative to improve the financial literacy of young people - covered key financial terms, budgeting, debt awareness, savings and investments, as well as financial scams and the rise of financial influencers or “finfluencers”.
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