"Control over the assets in these indirect holdings is carried out by the Investment Managers in line with their specific mandates. The Minister has written to each Investment Manager to make clear the States’ preference for immediate divestment from any Russian holdings. Ongoing monitoring of Russian investments is being carried out by the Minister’s independent Treasury Advisory Panel.

"Exact positions are proprietary information to the Funds holding the assets, but as of 7th March 2022 none of those indirect holdings were subject to direct sanctions, although this is being monitored by the investment managers, who have regulatory responsibility to ensure any sanctions are fully complied with."

The CIF was set up by the States in 2011 as a way of pooling other States funds for investment purposes, allowing them to benefit from greater opportunities and economies of scale.

Pictured: Deputy Mike Higgins who challenged the External Relations Minister over the scale of investment by the government in Russian assets. 

The focus on Russian wealth, and its links to Jersey, comes as the International community tightens sanctions on Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. 

Earlier this month, a UK law to make public the ultimate owners of foreign-owned property, which may have been purchased through a Jersey company, was passed.

The Economic Crime Bill was fast-tracked through the House of Commons in a single day in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It creates a ‘register of overseas entities’, which the UK Government says will stop people hiding behind company names when buying property and land.

Financial intelligence officers in Jersey’s police force and the regulator have teamed up to track down and investigate Russian assets.

Set up in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the new ‘Task Force’ will support the island’s “cooperation with international authorities, in particular those in the UK and across the transatlantic task force, where potential activities or assets are identified”, according to the External Relations Minister.

At the beginning of the month, Deputy Higgins persuaded the government  to vote in favour of condemning the “Russian government’s invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine and, in pledging the support of the States and people of Jersey to the people of the Ukraine, to request the Council of Ministers to report back at the next meeting of the States Assembly on the steps taken by the Government."

“We need to aid the British Government to obtain details of property owned in London and the rest of the country by Russian oligarchs that are owned by Jersey companies, foundations and trusts. We need to do this quickly and I regret the failure of past governments of Jersey to introduce a register of trusts,” he said, adding that it was also important that a digital register of commercial and residential property is launched soon.

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