Guernsey Finance has issued the following response to the UK government’s withdrawal of the Finance Bill from debate on Monday:
The constitutional position of the Crown Dependencies with the UK government needs to be better understood by parliamentarians following the UK government’s decision to defer debate on its Financial Services (Implementation of Legislation) Bill on Monday.
The States of Guernsey and the island’s financial services industry welcomed the late withdrawal of the Bill, which, if amendments had been successful in Parliament, could have damaged the relationship between Guernsey and its fellow Crown Dependencies and the UK.
Lyndon Trott (pictured), Chairman of Guernsey Finance and Deputy Chief Minister of the States of Guernsey, said: “We are pleased that the government has made this sensible decision, but are fully aware that although our constitutional position is clear and has been respected today, it obviously needs to be better understood by MPs, as does our exemplary record on tax transparency.
“This delay gives us an opportunity to explain why I described this political move as ‘misguided and wrong’. It is misguided, as our track record on tackling money laundering and financial crime have been rightly lauded by regulators, and our standards of regulation and private register of beneficial ownership works.
“It is wrong because the move was counter to the centuries-old relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies, and that is not helpful at all.
“We cannot allow anything to undermine our position of stability and security in self-government and in the delivery of financial services.”