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Jersey Finance is welcoming news that Kleinwort Benson is to investigate how alleged client details came to be printed in the national media. Under the headline: "Offshore tax dealings: celebrities and sportsmen in leaked Jersey files", the Guardian newspaper has published the names of celebrities such as Mel Gibson, Mark Knopfler and Bryan Robson, who they say have had "dealings" offshore. There is no allegation that anything illegal has been done.
The newspaper claims that: "The Jersey files are taken from records of more than 20,000 individuals held with the "wealth management" firm Kleinwort Benson, which were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington DC, and shared with the Guardian. Both organisations are publishing details of carefully selected individuals to further the public debate about off-shoring and tax avoidance".
In response, Richard Corrigan, Deputy CEO, Jersey Finance Limited, commented:
"There is nothing illegal or untoward about anyone, whether they are a celebrity or not, having a bank account or trust in a well regulated jurisdiction such as Jersey. There are many perfectly legitimate reasons for doing so and the reports in the Guardian appear to have no substance. Of concern is that confidential information about bank accounts has been leaked and I welcome the news that Kleinwort Benson is to conduct an investigation into this.”
There is no suggestion that any laws have been broken, but the substantial national publicity around leaked client details is not going to help efforts to promote Jersey as a well-run and confidential jurisdiction.
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