Jersey government approves new corporate money laundering offence - Draft Proceeds of Crime (Amendment No. 7) (Jersey) Law 202-

The Draft Proceeds of Crime (Amendment No. 7) (Jersey) Law 202 was Lodged au Greffe on 9th March 2022 by the Minister for External Relations and Financial Services Earliest date for debate: 25th April 2022

The Amendment No. 7 - amends the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 to introduce 2 new offences –

1. Failing to prevent a person associated with a financial services business committing an offence of money laundering and
2. Liability of a person for an offence committed by a financial services business when committed with the consent or connivance of that person.

Key article changes

3. Article 1 introduces the amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 (“the principal Law”).
4. Article 2 inserts a new Article 35A into the principal Law which makes it an offence for a financial services business to fail to prevent a person associated with the financial services business committing an offence of money laundering.
5. Article 4 inserts a new Article 39A into the principal Law which makes a relevant person also guilty of an offence under the principal Law, or an Order made under it, where a financial services business commits that offence with the consent or connivance of the relevant person.
• A relevant person is a partner in a limited liability partnership; a general partner in or limited partner who is participating in the management of, a separate limited partnership or an incorporated limited partnership; a director, manager, secretary, statutory officer or other similar officer in a body corporate (other than an incorporated limited partnership) or, if the affairs of that body corporate are managed by its members, a member who is acting in connection with the member’s functions of management; and any person purporting to act in any such capacity.

The penalties

6. If the business is a corporate body the penalty is a fine.
7. If the business is not a corporate body the penalty is a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or a fine or both.

Defence

8. It is a defence for the business to prove that at the time the money laundering occurred it adequately maintained and applied procedures to prevent persons associated with the business from being engaged in money laundering.
9. A person is associated with the business if that person is an employee, an agent, a person performing services for or on behalf of the business or a customer of the business or agent of such customer.

Courts may

10. When deciding whether a business has maintained and applied prevention procedures the Court may consider any relevant code of practice or guidance.

https://statesassembly.gov.je/assemblypropositions/2022/p.51-2022.pdf