The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) imposed financial penalties of £50,000 under section 11D of the jurisdiction’s Financial Services Commission Law on Rudiger Falla, Richard Garrod, Leslie Hilton and Geoffrey Le Page.
Falla, Hilton and Le Page were further prohibited from performing the functions of director, controller, partner and money laundering reporting officer in relation to “business carried on by an entity licensed under its regulatory laws” for five years from 26 October.
The public statement from the commission also included a fine of £10,000 for non-executive director Kenneth Forman under the same section 11D of the law.
The GFSC said the directors had failed to fulfil the fit and proper requirements as set out in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 (minimum criteria for licensing) to the Fiduciaries Law.
Confiance was visited by the GFSC’s financial crime supervision and policy division in April 2015, after which its findings were referred to its enforcement division.
It said significant failings were identified regarding Confiance’s anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing systems and controls.
If these failings had materialised, it added, considerable reputational damage to the Bailiwick of Guernsey may have occurred.
International Adviser has already reported that PraxisIFM, a Guernsey-based independent financial services group, plans to acquire Confiance Limited for an undisclosed sum.
Simon Thornton, chief executive of PraxisIFM Group, commented on the GFSC announcement saying a number of regulatory issues had been raised.
“We will be working with all relevant bodies to address and rectify those concerns. We are confident that we can achieve that with minimal disruption to clients, who will benefit from the peace of mind of being part of PraxisIFM and have access to an increased number of services and a wider range of jurisdictions”, he said.
