Key initiatives

Our core work streams are supported by three key initiatives, designed to drive progress on our strategic aims and informed by our industry survey.

Key initiatives

Industry survey

Building understanding of stakeholder views and sentiment is critical to improve our regulatory effectiveness, and this is reflected in our key initiatives.

Our 2022/23 research confirmed that the JFSC is well-regarded, particularly in an international context, responding effectively to international matters with the Island’s reputation clearly prioritised. Industry recognised the positive impact made by our engaged, professional workforce, and also recognised our investment and activities in digital technology.

However, industry survey respondents including a subset of Registry users, confirmed that action is needed to improve user experience. Areas for development include improving interactions online and in person, in addition to reducing employee churn in key areas. The benefits of closer collaboration with industry stakeholders and other partners were also articulated.

1. International and local engagement

Our recent industry survey revealed that 73% of participants believe the JFSC supports Jersey’s competitiveness as a jurisdiction of choice for financial services businesses

We maintained a degree of international engagement whilst travel was limited by Covid. With the easing of restrictions, we will revitalise this focus area in 2023. International engagement is an important vehicle for us to engage with stakeholders and help protect Jersey’s reputation. Interactions with other regulators and international bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) provide an opportunity to tell our story as a jurisdiction, upskill and update our collective knowledge, and shape the international regulatory agenda.

In the latter part of 2022, in person attendances included the Annual Meeting of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the MONEYVAL plenary, and the Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors (GIFCS) conference. We will build on this activity in 2023 and continue international engagements in partnership with industry and the Government of Jersey, using our Board and Executives.

In addition, we will deliver increased engagement locally through our Chair, Commissioners, Director General, Executives, and our subject matter experts, supported by our external communications activity. We will continue to listen to industry and explore how best to engage with our stakeholder community.

2. Continuous improvement

Our people will strive to deliver iterative improvements in our processes and technology to support regulatory effectiveness.

Processes and Operations

It is important to our people and external stakeholders that we raise the bar of process efficiency and effectiveness. Two examples of this activity in 2023 are in our IT, Operations and People and Culture functions. We will implement internal Service Level Agreements to track IT solution delivery. Establishing clear performance measures and enabling improved identification and resolution of recurring issues. We will also streamline our recruitment and onboarding process, reducing the time to attract and embed talent within our organisation.

Public Statements and Examination Feedback Reports

We understand the important role Public Statements and Examination feedback reports have in informing and educating our stakeholder community. This will continue to be a focus area for improvement in 2023 as we seek to make further enhancements in our approach, ensuring industry can leverage learnings from findings and failures in compliance within the regulatory framework, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and Countering Proliferation Financing (CPF) regimes.

3. Other regulatory improvements

Sustainable finance

We are committed to supporting the global move towards more sustainable finance that considers environmental, social, and governance factors. In 2023, we plan to build on the work of the Government of Jersey, who have commissioned an external report to help define the risks and opportunities of sustainable finance for our Island. A future Government strategic roadmap on sustainable finance will inform how we respond and define a multi-year plan.

Lending

In 2023 we will continue to work with Government, industry, and consumer representative groups to shape and develop a consumer lending regime which is appropriate and proportionate to the Island’s needs.

Banking

We will also continue our work to update Jersey’s banking regime in accordance with the revised Basel III international standards. As part of this work, we will aim to align our regulatory requirements with those of peer regulators, such as the UK and EU.

In 2022 Government undertook a review to ensure Jersey’s approach to retaining and attracting banking institutions is effective, sustainable, and supports the needs of the wider financial services sector and local community. In 2023 we will focus on the recommendations of that review once published. We will also consider the licensing requirements in respect of banks and payment service providers and the regulatory requirements required to support Open Banking.