The JFSC has decided, following an investigation into a
number of companies in the Trustcorp Group (including Trustcorp Services
Limited and Trustcorp Secretaries Limited) that they are not fit and proper
persons to be licensed for trust company business, and will revoke their licences
following an orderly winding up of the businesses.
In addition, the principals of the business, Michael
Kenney-Herbert, David Roberts, David Hill, William Davies and William Simpson have
also been found not to have acted with fitness and propriety in the management
of the businesses, and have accordingly been disqualified from having any
involvement with another registered business without the prior consent of the
JFSC.
The failings catalogued by JFSC are numerous, but key amongst
them are failure to keep proper accounting records for client entities;
over-reliance on intermediaries and a failure to independently verify the
purpose of a transaction; ineffective money-laundering procedures and a failure
properly to record and manage conflicts of interest.
The investigation did not concern affiliated business
Trustcorp (Jersey) Limited, which continues to be authorised in the conduct of
its business by JFSC. Hawksford announced
its acquisition of Trustcorp (Jersey) Limited last week.
The ruling by JFSC will put more pressure on smaller trust
companies who may lack the infrastructure properly to be able to manage
compliance risk to the standards required by the JFSC, a dynamic which has already
led to some consolidation. JFSC is determined to be able to show to the
world that the fiduciary business in Jersey is properly controlled and managed,
and key to this is taking tough action against those who fail to meet the
standards set.
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