Requests from UK enforcement agencies for information held on the Central Register of beneficial ownership

6

1240/5(9385)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY S.Y. MÉZEC OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 26th APRIL 2016

Question

Could the Chief Minister provide the details of how many times in each year for the past 5 years UK enforcement agencies have sought information from Jersey's Central Register of beneficial ownership and on how many occasions the request was indicated to be urgent?

Also, how many of the requests related to investigations concerning –

1. terrorism;
2. money laundering;
3. tax avoidance;
4. tax evasion?

Answer

It is widely recognised that the misuse of corporate vehicles is reduced if information regarding both the legal and beneficial owner, and the source, and use of the corporate vehicle's assets are available to investigating authorities. Beneficial ownership information is therefore required by law enforcement agencies to identify persons who may be responsible for suspected criminal activity, or who may have relevant information to further an investigation.

In Jersey, the Police & Customs Joint Financial Crimes Unit (JFCU) is the national centre for the receipt, analysis and dissemination of financial information relevant to money laundering, associated offences and terrorist financing. The JFCU engages in the reciprocal exchange of information with agencies across the world, disseminating the results of financial analysis, and receiving all overseas enquiries regarding financial crime. UK Authorities are amongst Jersey's closest operational partners, and the jurisdictions enjoy strong financial crime investigation cooperation.

Much of the Jersey's international liaison results from the proactive sharing of information, but where overseas authorities initiate a request, it is designated as a Request for Assistance "RFA".

Beneficial ownership detail is exchanged with international counterparts as a matter of routine in the course of financial investigations. It rarely features in isolation, generally forming part of a wider information requirement. Beneficial ownership information is frequently held by the JFCU by virtue of its' function, and may be obtained by the JFCU from the Registry if not.

The JFCU do not collate statistics specifically regarding requests for beneficial ownership detail. The figures below are the number of RFAs from UK Law Enforcement Agencies which may contain a beneficial ownership aspect1 along with criminality suspected2. The question refers to tax avoidance but as this is not a criminal tax matter requests for information in this respect will not come to the JFCU. Requests for information in connection with civil tax matters will be received by the Taxes Office in respect of tax information exchange agreements and where these seek information on beneficial ownership the Taxes Office will obtain this information from the Companies Registry or a third party such as a trust and company service provider.

UK Law Enforcement have expressed their satisfaction with the cooperation they receive from the JFCU and we are told by UK Cabinet Office officials that Jersey is held in high esteem by the UK National Crime Agency

Standard operating procedure dictates that all RFAs are dealt within a maximum of 7 days and there has been no complaint from UK law enforcement concerning the speed with which requests for information are responded to.

1 ENGLAND

NORTHERN IRELAND

SCOTLAND

UNITED KINGDOM CPS (UK) Crown Prosecution Service

UNITED KINGDOM (UK) ASSET RECOVERY AGENCY (RART - ARA) UNITED KINGDOM (UK) CUSTOMS & EXCISE (HMRC)

UNITED KINGDOM (UK) FSA

UNITED KINGDOM (UK) NCA

UNITED KINGDOM (UK) OTHER COURT / GOVT. DEPARTMENT UNITED KINGDOM (UK) SOCA (NCIS)

UNITED KINGDOM POLICE (UK)

WALES

2 The precise reason for an enquiry may not be stipulated on the incoming RFA.