Suspicious? Be careful who you tell! Changes to the Jersey tipping-off rules are coming shortly.
You will all be familiar with the long-standing provisions against ‘tipping off’ in relation to a suspicious activity report, which is an offence if it is likely to prejudice a current or proposed police investigation.
You may also be aware that the IMF has recommended that the ‘tipping off’ offence should be extended to all disclosures, rather than just those that might prejudice an investigation.
In preparation for the MONEYVAL review later this year, this change is proposed to take effect in the later part of 2014.
Removal of the ‘prejudicial to an investigation’ limitation on the tipping-off offence will create a blanket ban on disclosure of SARs, or information relating to them, to anyone.
Exceptions are therefore proposed to allow “protected disclosures” of a SAR, the identity of the person making the SAR or information contained in the SAR, only in specific circumstances.
The Proceeds of Crime and Terrorism (Tipping Off – Exceptions) (Jersey) Regulations 201-
(i) http://bit.ly/1wnOGN6
this law allows disclosure to be made:
(i) where required by the law of Jersey or another jurisdiction;
(ii) with permission from the JFCU;
(iii) to your MLRO;
(iv) to fellow employees;
(v) within a financial group, sharing common ownership, management or compliance control;
(vi) between financial services businesses in Jersey or Jersey entities, who act for a common customer or in a common transaction or service;
(vii) to the customs, police, JFCU, JFSC or other AML supervisory body;
(viii) by MLROs for the purpose of their functions in that capacity;
(ix) by legal advisers and by clients to their legal advisers and accountants.
There are some further limitations on these ‘protected disclosures’ which you should also consider. Some of these limitations may present operational challenges, for example, in restricting access to physical or electronic copies of internal and external SARs.
The SAR itself (or a copy) can only be disclosed to
(i) an MLRO
(ii) where required by law or
(iii) to fellow employees who are physically in Jersey. As well as preventing access by your overseas offices, this will also mean preventing access by Jersey employees when they are outside Jersey.
There are also restrictions on disclosure of the identity of the person who made the SAR, particularly where an onward disclosure is made.
All Jersey firms
- it will be important to promptly amend your internal procedures relating to SARs and to provide training to your staff to avoid unintended criminal disclosures.
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