“We need to urgently track down any Russian money”

Tuesday 01 March 2022

The Government has announced fresh sanctions amid calls to “urgently track down any Russian property and money in, or placed through the island.”

Jersey’s Government has pledged to follow the UK with any sanctions placed on Russia.

After officially announcing the closure of the island’s airspace yesterday, two new sanctions came into force at midnight last night relating to financial services and trade.

There is now a widened list of companies and banks under restrictions, as well as targeted full asset freezes on some institutions. 

In addition, there are now trade restrictions on electronics, computer hardware and software, telecoms equipment, and navigation and aviation equipment coming from Russia.

It comes as Deputy Mike Higgins has today put forward an urgent proposition asking the Government to make tracking down Russian money a priority.

He is asking for States Members 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 of Jersey to provide support and deliver aid to the people of the Ukraine.”

In a report accompanying his proposition, he says Jersey must “urgently” track down Russian money and property flowing through the island and make sure sanctions are strictly adhered to.

Pictured: Deputy Mike Higgins says Jersey needs to track down all Russian money. 

“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.

Calling for the finance industry to “step up”, Deputy Higgins added: “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 to sit alongside our companies register so that we would know what assets are held through trusts; who ultimately settled the trusts and who will benefit from them in real time rather than having to ask the Trust companies to trawl through their records to find out the details with the associated added delays.”

Senator Ian Gorst, who is Minister for Financial Services, told the States Assembly he would accept Deputy Higgins' report, but not the comments in his accompanying report.

He was targeted with questions on the topic of Jersey’s financial ties with Russia in the States Chamber this morning.

The JFSC, in co-operation with local finance companies operating under its regulation, has a responsibility to notify the minister when assets linked with sanctioned Russian entities are identified.

“To date, have you received any notifications,” asked Senator Sam Mézec, “and is there a problem with Russian assets being held in Jersey?”

Pictured: Senator Sam Mezéc asked whether any notifications had been received signalling that listed Russian persons from UK sanctions had assets held in Jersey.

Senator Gorst was adamant that Jersey is aligned with the UK in terms of sanctions on designated persons and businesses. “Let’s be clear,” replied the minister. “As the conflict started, we began with a small number of designations. On Thursday, the list of sanctions increased.”

“Over the weekend, the UK have now increased the list of sanctioned entities to 110. As the circle grows, we expect more notifications to be received.”

The Minister highlighted that he was unable to share the details on what was being done behind the scenes. “It is not our policy to notify the public when we receive notifications,” said Senator Gorst.

Pictured: Senator Gorst affirmed that, in line with existing policy, he would not give a "running commentary" regarding Russian sanctioned assets identified in Jersey.

“These work in the same way as other designations, and we do not give a running commentary on the quantum,” said Senator Gorst.

“If there are listed entities found to have money invested through Jersey structures, we will be notified and then take immediate action to ensure assets will be frozen in line with UK sanctions.”

“We have the very highest regulation in Jersey, including our register of beneficial ownership which others across the globe have followed.” 

“I believe finance in Jersey to work to the very highest standards. We are aligned with the European community, and we are aligned with the UK.”

Confirming the latest sanctions this morning, a Government of Jersey spokesperson said: "Jersey fully supports, has implemented, and will continue to implement, all UK and UN sanctions deployed in response to Russia’s actions. In the coming days and weeks, we expect further amendments to the UK Sanctions Regime."

They added: "Guidance for Jersey’s financial services industry will be updated regularly, and an outreach programme will be delivered to assist industry in complying with these new restrictions."