LGL Trustees Ltd learned this week that it is facing of hundreds of thousands of pounds for failing to recognise ‘numerous red flags’ when dealing with its former client Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, who previously faced prosecution in Angola related to the misappropriation of government money. The Royal Court judgment is due to be made tomorrow.
Representatives of the firm pleaded guilty to the charges in December and appeared in the Royal Court on Monday for a sentencing hearing.
Martin Moloney, director general of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, said that breaches such as those by LGL would ‘not be tolerated’.
‘We welcome the Royal Court’s decision in relation to LGL Trustees Ltd for two counts of breaching the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008,’ he said.
‘We also recognise the firm’s acceptance that it did not have appropriate and consistent policies and procedures in place at the time of these breaches.
‘This case does send a clear message to financial services businesses in the Island and elsewhere that Jersey’s authorities will not tolerate firms or individuals who do not comply with the anti-money-laundering regime.’
The JFSC itself issued a fine of more than £700,000 this week to three S G Kleinwort Hambros companies based in the Island, which, following an investigation, were found to have made a series of compliance breaches.
Jersey Finance chief executive Joe Moynihan said that the Island had ‘developed’ methods to deal with problems in the industry.
‘Jersey Finance does not comment on individual cases. However, over the past 60 years, our industry has developed the appropriate laws, resources and mechanisms to tackle any issues in Jersey’s finance industry and address them accordingly,’ he said.
‘Jersey is a well-regulated, reputable and fully transparent jurisdiction which has been repeatedly assessed by international standard-setting bodies and found to have the highest standards.’
