Mid-Year Financial Services Update: Strengthening Jersey's Competitiveness

Speech by the Minister for External Relations and Financial Services at the Mid-Year Financial Services Update: Strengthening Jersey's Competitiveness on 23 July 2025.

Good morning everyone.

When we last gathered in November, we were at the end of an intensive cycle of activity as we completed our MONEYVAL assessment.

We can and still should be proud of this achievement.

But as I said at the time, it had come at a cost. Stakeholders were exhausted. Relationships had become frayed and the message from industry was loud and clear: we needed to reset, rejuvenate and get back on track – and most of all ensure that we were correctly positioned to sustain and grow Jersey’s financial and professional services sector.

We have listened and we are acting.

That is why, today, you will hear from me and the team not just a “to do” list of future priorities but instead an update on actions completed and substantial projects under way.

The Competitiveness Programme has required reprioritising activity and funding from within planned budgets. I am grateful for the backing of the Chief Minister together with the Minister for Treasury and Resources and the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development.

But this project is also about you – and will only succeed if you are not only aware of the work, but part of shaping it and delivering it. And later we will hear about the engagement that has taken place with local firms already and the positive changes that are being implemented.

But first I want to focus on two questions: what makes the Financial Services Competitiveness Programme so important for Jersey? And why do we need it now?

For decades, Jersey’s financial services sector has been synonymous with success. The industry has been the engine of our economic growth and has proved its resilience against international challengers and whilst being buffeted by major global events.

The sector continues to bring jobs and investment to Jersey, and provides the building blocks upon which our quality of Island life is built. The numbers speak for themselves but are worthy of repetition:

In 2023 the finance, legal and accounting sectors were collectively worth £3bn and represented 46% of Jersey's economy.
The industry directly provides 14,000 jobs, 40% of tax revenue; and much more indirectly via the tax paid by staff working for companies supplying goods and services to the sector, and via the spend of companies and staff in the local economy.

All of this helps keep our community vibrant – and provides the income from which we can invest in infrastructure and public services. All of you make this happen, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for that.

Put simply, the success of our finance sector is inextricably linked to the success of the Island as a whole. This programme therefore could not be more important and it is a top political priority for me personally.

Secondly, why are we doing this now?

The global context makes this question even more pertinent. Geopolitical events, including the US’s approach to the established principles of free trade and the rules-based international system, raises profound questions about the economic environment in which we have been operating. Meanwhile Western Europe faces its own challenges, from energy security to ageing populations, whilst China and its allied developing nations continues to assert itself through both hard and soft power.

Interestingly, these uncertainties exist at a time of great market opportunity, as huge swathes of the world’s population continue to experience upward economic and social mobility. It is estimated that between 2023 and 2027, global private wealth will have grown by 28%. By 2030, the private capital invested in alternative assets will have reached $30 trillion.

The opportunity for places like Jersey is there for us all to see. But many jurisdictions, from Luxembourg to Singapore, are ploughing resources into their own future growth strategies. If we stand still, Jersey risks falling behind in the global race to future-proof our economy.

You will hear much more from Alek Petrov on these global issues later this morning.

The Competitiveness Programme, therefore, has been designed to get the Island on the front foot.

In brief, the Programme comprises four workstreams, all of which are overseen by the Ministerial Working Group, which I chair.

One of the workstreams is focussing on finding quick-fire improvements that can be made by government and the regulator to make it easier to operate in Jersey. Many of you will be familiar with this workstream – indeed many of you will have directly contributed to it. We are truly grateful for your feedback.

Today I can announce that as part of this workstream and our wider work, I have:

Firstly, made enhancements to Jersey’s Private Fund regime through a Ministerial Order, ensuring that the Island’s offering remains the product of choice.
Secondly, published a revised Sound Business Practice Policy, which clarifies and simplifies our approach, demonstrating our sophisticated understanding of risk.
Thirdly, made an exemption order for domestic private lending, to reduce the burden on those lenders commensurate with the anti-money-laundering risk posed.
Fourthly, published a consultation and approved drafting instructions for the repeal of COBO.

This is just the beginning. We will together take more action throughout this year – including on:

Changing thresholds to reporting requirements for beneficial ownership information from 10% to 25% in line with international norms.
Tackling the issues we know we have with the reliance regime to make sure it works in practice.
Taking a fresh look at compliance, building on the work that the JFSC has done in its consultation.
Reconsidering our approach to intermeddling.

And there will be more to follow. Helen and the team will talk more about this in their panel session.

The other major part of today’s event will focus on the review we have commissioned, in partnership with Jersey Finance, to bring in world-class consultants to conduct a forensic review of the industry and, crucially, to set a clear strategy to maintain and grow the sector. We’ve commissioned McKinsey following a competitive tender process.

I know that some people may ask: why should we spend taxpayer money on this instead of other priorities, and does it represent value for money?

I can tell you today that we’re paying for all of this from within my existing departmental budget – so no need to draw down on other resources. And that as an investment in the long-term future of our £3bn financial and professional services sector, I can think of few better ways in which we can secure long-term value for Islanders.

McKinsey’s work will be key to the success of this project. We might not like everything they have to say, and we may not agree with some of it. The truth can be painful.

But we have not brought them here to give us a pat on the back.

We will listen and we will act because we need to get this right.

We have also listened to feedback from industry on the importance of ease of doing business in the tax space. Over the coming months, Revenue Jersey will be working on how to deliver an exciting enhanced onboarding experience for new-to-Island business and FS professionals. This will be focused on making the customer experience with Revenue Jersey quicker, simpler and more intuitive.

And we never take for granted the pivotal role of a simple and predictable tax regime with tax neutrality at its core.

Finally, an independent expert panel, who you will hear about later, will produce a report for government with a specific focus on strategy and regulatory posturing.

Tom Le Feuvre, the programme’s director of strategy, will talk through the workstreams in more detail shortly and there will be an exciting announcement on the Chair of this Panel.

Once we have completed the research and reflected on the recommendations, I will publish an action plan in the spring of 2026 which will set a clear strategy for growing Jersey’s financial and professional services sector over the next decade and beyond.

Together, I am sure that we will move forward with renewed clarity of purpose, with enhanced cooperation between our institutions and agencies, and with greater confidence in the future success of our dynamic financial services sector. We are realistic that this is likely to be more of a marathon than a sprint. And it is a global race in which we are competing. But we are up for the challenge and excited by the opportunity. We look forward to working with you as we take that next step.