An assessment of the risks of proliferation
financing facing the jurisdiction to assist stakeholders to understand and
mitigate the risk of Jersey being abused or misused for the purposes of
financing the procurement of weapons of mass destruction.
National Risk Assessment:
Proliferation Financing
Executive summary​
Jersey, as a leading international finance centre (IFC), plays a crucial role in the global
financial system. While it has a stringent anti-money laundering (AML), countering of terrorist
financing (CFT) and countering of proliferation financing (CPF) regime, the Island's expertise
in managing corporate structures with cross-jurisdictional touchpoints can make it attractive to
bad actors seeking to obscure the origin of funds before proliferation financing (PF)-related
procurement.
The primary aim of Jersey’s PF National Risk Assessment (NRA) is to identify, assess,
understand, prevent and mitigate the risks associated with PF within Jersey. This includes
evaluating the vulnerabilities and threats to the jurisdiction's financial services which are used,
in whole or in part, for the development, production, or dissemination of weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) and their delivery mechanisms, and related materials.
Jersey’s commitment to playing a proactive role in the global CPF effort is reflected in the
Island's national strategy for combatting financial crime, its active participation in international
forums, and its adherence to international standards. Jersey has developed a comprehensive
legal and regulatory framework designed to detect, deter, and prevent the misuse of its
financial system for PF purposes. There are both legal and operational gateways to ensure
timely cooperation and exchanges of information between stakeholders, nationally and
internationally.
Jersey’s PF NRA represents a key component of our commitment. By systematically
identifying and assessing the risks associated with PF, the PF NRA enables Jersey to
strengthen its defences against this global threat and to contribute effectively to the
international non-proliferation regime. It ensures that all businesses operating in or from within
Jersey (including financial services businesses , entities registered with the Jersey Financial
Services Commission (JFSC) Registry, and those administered under the Control of
Borrowing (Jersey) Law 1947), are aware of their obligations and allows them to implement
appropriate systems and controls to mitigate their PF risks.
Through this assessment, Jersey seeks to reaffirm its commitment to global security and to
demonstrate its proactive stance in preventing the misuse of its financial system for activities
that could endanger international peace and stability.
Although this report will show that Jersey’s safeguarding measures are stringent, there is no
room for complacency. The Island has experienced potential PF abuse (see Appendix 1).
This report sets out that, on balance, Jersey's main vulnerability is in the PF process stage
of obscuring of funds and money flows. This is most likely to occur through corporate
and financial infrastructure abuse by proliferators and their associates. This is in line
with the typical PF typology whereby complex proliferation networks and tactics are utilised to
obfuscate transactions and relationships.
The Island’s overall level of PF risk is assessed as Medium Low. ​
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