Moneyval result could be positive

Had the report been tinged with grey, you could guarantee that it would have been – quite possibly with headlines along the lines of ‘Will the last person out please turn off the lights’.

Being grey-listed by the European body which assess how jurisdictions combat money laundering, and crucially, how effective the laws and policies are, may not be terminal, but it might feel like it, and the reputational damage would be considerable.

Yes, there are a couple of comments that aren’t entirely positive, but the Jersey authorities, and the island’s finance industry, will be delighted and rightly so with the report and the clean bill of health it gives the island’s major industry. There are ‘no fundamental improvements’ needed for the island’s anti-money laundering regime.

Guernsey will no doubt also take heart from the result. While extensive and expensive preparations were made for the evaluation visit, the island was rather operating in the dark, believing that it was getting into position for a positive assessment, but without knowing just how high the evaluators’ bar might prove to be.

The island will surely be buoyed now by the belief that if Jersey has passed with flying colours, we should not be too far away. The mood locally was positive once the inspectors had left, but we’ll find out for sure early next year.