The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) made an application to the island’s Royal Court in May seeking disqualification orders against Michael Doyle and Belinda Doyle (nee Lanyon) from acting as a director of any Guernsey company.
The pair operated a fiduciary business between 2004 and 2012, despite having been refused a licence by the GFSC. During the period, they are believed to have been nominee directors of 300 companies.
Criminal charges
In 2012, both were charged with acquiring, possessing and using the proceeds of crime, converting the proceeds of criminal conduct, conducting regulated business without a licence and perverting the course of justice by disposing of evidence.
Officers from the Guernsey Border Agency had to sift through 18 tonnes of paper in an attempt to find evidence, newspaper Jersey Evening Post reported in September 2015.
A further charge of money laundering was made against Michael Doyle.
He was given a seven-and-a-half-year prison term in September 2015, while his wife was handed a three-and-a-half-year term.
Public interest
The Royal Court stated that Mr and Mrs Doyle’s past conduct demonstrated a lack of probity, competence and soundness of judgment for fulling the responsibilities of an officer of a company; they also conducted regulated business activities within the Bailiwick without a license.
Therefore, it was in the public interest that they should be disqualified for as long as possible.
No registry
The GFSC issued a warning in May about an organisation on Sark promoting a company registry there for the first time.
The Guernsey regulator said the existence of this organisation had come to its attention and “wishes to emphasise that there is no company legislation in Sark”.
The entity, named Sark Company Registry and with a website of the same name, is registered as a non-profit organisation, the Guernsey regulator said in a statement.
“Anyone considering using the services of this organisation is advised to seek legal advice on the standing of anything that is ‘registered’ with it. The commission has been working with the Sark authorities on this matter,” it added.
