Deputy Rob Curgenven put eight written questions to Policy & Resources about the commission’s 2025 annual report and accounts, including the terms of the scheme introduced last year.
The accounts show £470,000 was issued, of which £92,038 went to key management. Deputy Curgenven asked about the interest rate, security, approval route, how much had been forgiven and under whose authority, and whether details would be published.
The GFSC is accountable to the States and responsible for the Bailiwick’s financial services industry and establishing the regulatory regime.
Deputy Andy Niles responded on behalf of P&R.
‘The staff loan scheme was introduced in 2025 as a cost-effective, multi-year staff retention tool for experienced and high performing staff,’ he said.
He added that it complied with the relevant tax requirements and that the commission would ‘continue to make relevant disclosures in line with UK GAAP’.
‘Retaining good staff is a fair aim, but we haven’t been told the terms, interest, security, who approves it, or whether any has been forgiven, and I’d simply like to understand why,’ said Deputy Curgenven, after receiving the response.
‘The finance industry is vital to Guernsey and the GFSC is its regulator, so I feel islanders are entitled to a little more information.’
He said the commission had explained its thinking on some issues, including its reserves and £230,878 of forestry assets bought partly to offset its carbon emissions.
On other questions, however, the answer was that the accounts had been ‘signed off by our auditors as appropriate’.
‘I accept that, but a clean audit isn’t the same as an explanation,’ he said.
Those questions included the commission’s likely exposure to Royal Court costs awards, which it has warned will raise its cost base ‘considerably’.
The accounts include a claims provision of £110,500. The accounts also show a deficit of £216,011 in 2025, against a surplus of £1.9m. the year before, as fee income of £18.9m. fell short of operating costs of £20.7m.
Deputy Niles said this was an intentional investment of reserves in the commission’s offices and technology, and that it aimed to run a balanced budget over a longer period of time.
Deputy Curgenven said not everyone had welcomed his questions.
Within 14 minutes of sending them, he said he was asked by a fellow deputy what he hoped to achieve by creating so much work for officers and colleagues.
‘I understand the workload concern, but this just goes to show exactly why deputies must keep asking,' he said.