Channel Islands reject claims they ignore Russian money flows

(MENAFN) The governments of Guernsey and Jersey have pushed back against assertions by a UK MP that the islands are not doing enough to prevent Russian money from flowing through their jurisdictions.

Labour MP Lloyd Hatton told the Commons that since February 2022, over a quarter of all suspected sanctions breaches involved intermediary jurisdictions, including Guernsey. "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," he said.

Steve Falla, Guernsey’s external relations lead, responded: "Guernsey is in lock step with the UK on the implementation of sanctions." Jersey issued a similar statement: "Jersey implements sanctions in lockstep with the UK, and we work closely together to ensure they are enforced.

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."

Hatton’s criticism follows a report from the UK government’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published last year, which noted that since February 2022, just over 25% of suspected breach reports from UK financial firms involved intermediary jurisdictions. The most frequently cited were the British Virgin Islands, the Republic of Cyprus, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Austria, and Türkiye.

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