When do I submit a Disclosure Report to the FIS?
As of the 15th December 2007, the Bailiwick anti-money laundering provisions, following amendments to the Proceeds of Crime and Drug Trafficking Laws and the introduction of the Disclosure (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2007 expanded, reformed and consolidated the criminal money laundering offences. Most of the offences apply to all individuals and businesses in the Bailiwick; however, some apply only to those operating as financial services businesses as defined in Schedule 1 of the Criminal Justice (Proceeds of Crime)(Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1999 as amended.

A disclosure report should be made as soon as a person knows or suspects (or has reasonable grounds for such knowledge or suspicion) that another person is engaged in money laundering or terrorist financing, especially if consent may be required, or at the earliest opportunity thereafter.

Reports of suspicion of money laundering (including drug money laundering) must be disclosed under the Disclosure Law and suspicions relating to terrorism must be disclosed under the Terrorism and Crime (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2002, as amended.

How do I submit my suspicion to the FIS?
The Disclosure Law enabled the Home Department to prescribe by Regulations the form and manner in which reports must be made. Consequently, from the 17th December 2007, all reports of suspicion and consent requests must be submitted to the Financial Intelligence Service in a legible format on the form prescribed within the Regulations and included in the GFSC Handbook at Appendix D2.

It is important that the relevant information is completed within the appropriate fields and not merely placed within the 'Reasons for Suspicion' field or appended on a separate document. The report form no longer contains information identifying the person making the disclosure, so it should be accompanied by a covering letter with relevant contact details.

A template of the prescribed form as a Word document can be downloaded here.

A disclosure may be delivered to the FIS by post, fax or e-mail (see contact us page) and its receipt will be acknowledged by the FIS in writing. If a disclosure is sent by fax or e-mail there is no requirement to send a duplicate via post.

The means of delivery is at the discretion of the submitter and subject to its own security protocols.

Further guidance on how to make a report can be found within Chapter 10 of the Handbook for Financial Services Businesses in Countering Financial Crime and Terrorist Financing which is available on the GFSC website.