GIFCS meets in London to extend regulation of Trust and Company Services Providers
The Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors (GIFCS)* held a Plenary meeting in London on 24 & 25 April 2019, in conjunction with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Following recent publication of its first mutual evaluation report on compliance by a member (Jersey) with its Standard on TCSP** regulation, the meeting reviewed progress with two further evaluations currently underway as well as self-assessments of compliance conducted by other members. Adoption of the Standard is now widespread among the GIFCS community, and the compliance level is reported as high. Further momentum is to be maintained.
Other topics covered in the meeting were:
- A review of the global economy
- The use of customer data in financial services
- Addressing bank failure: asset valuation and insolvency
- Managing financial risks from climate change
- Promotion of financial inclusion in the UK
- Effectiveness of the international AML/CFT regime
- Augmented intelligence in financial services
- Consumer requirements for cash
- A member’s experience from crypto assets, DLT firms and token sales
- GIFCS website upgrade
- Internal training
Immediately before the meeting two colleges of supervisors of TCSP groups were held, attended by a number of members. Colleges of members facilitate the oversight of financial services groups, to develop a better understanding of how such groups operate and manage their businesses across jurisdictions.
The next Plenary of the GIFCS will be held on 5 & 6 November 2019 in the Cayman Islands.
26 April 2019
Notes for editors
The GIFCS is a long-established group of financial services supervisors with a core interest of promoting the adoption of international regulatory standards especially in the banking, fiduciary and AML/CFT arena.
The GIFCS was established in 1980. Today its membership accounts for a market share of approaching 10% of global international banking assets. The Group, which meets formally twice a year, has become a very positive contributor to promoting compliance among its membership with the Basel Core Principles and the FATF Recommendations on AML/CFT. It also contributes to some of the work of IOSCO.
The GIFCS has become recognised as a leading authority on the regulation of trust and company service providers, the interface of these intermediaries with AML/CFT standards, and on the principle of identifying beneficial owners behind trust and company structures. It has issued an international Standard for regulation of this sector, which is being implemented by members and against which their compliance is being formally evaluated.
Please see www.gifcs.net for further information.
Contact:
John R Aspden
Chairman
Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors
C/o PO Box 58
Finch Hill House
Bucks Road
Douglas
Isle of Man IM99 1DT
Web: www.gifcs.org
Email: john.aspden@gifcs.org
Tel: +44 (0)7403610895
* Members are Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Curacao & Sint Maarten, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Labuan, Macao SAR, Mauritius, Qatar, Samoa, Turks & Caicos Islands and Vanuatu. Regulators from Liechtenstein and the Seychelles joined the meeting as observers. Representatives of the Secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and of the Financial Stability Institute attended as speakers. ** Trust and company service provider