Does anyone else find it so frustrating to constantly provide client due diligence when accessing financial services products or even when accessing legal services?  Is this constant due diligence treadmill stopping us and potentially our clients from accessing products and services?  I personally feel that this is unfortunately the case and in some cases I am aware that this has caused clients to utilise other jurisdictions or miss out on investment or business opportunities.  I believe that there is a solution to this which could add to the attraction of Guernsey as a place to do business as well as allowing clients greater access to the products and services that can be offered.

The current solution is that the regulated or registered business can if the introducer meets the requirements of an Appendix C business, utilise the introducer regime as stipulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commissions (GFSC).  This allows the registered or regulated business to rely on a certificate confirming identity while promising that the due diligence they hold and maintain meets the Guernsey requirements and will be provided when requested from the regulated or registered business.  The regulated or registered business then has to test the introducer throughout the life of the business relationship, to ensure that the introducer can meet the obligations of the introducer certificate and that the due diligence does meets the Guernsey standards. The unfortunate downfall of this system is that sometimes an introducer won’t adhere to the obligations of the introducer certificate or requirements of the rules governing due diligence in Guernsey leaving the regulated or registered business with quite a headache, and remedial work to undertake.

Where an introducer provides clients to regulated or registered business by the use of introducer certificate, for example an IFA providing 300 clients to invest in various Funds at a Guernsey Fund provider, the introducer can become disillusioned with Guernsey and the regulated or registered business when year on year they receive requests to provide the copies of due diligence for a selection of these clients introduced by them.  This is a burdensome process for the introducer, taking them away from their business, only to provide documentation for which they can not necessarily recover the cost from their client.  Unfortunately some will not want to or be willing to keep their obligations, leading to problems for the regulated or registered business.  The solution to this problem is to undertake a 100% testing programme where copies are provided to the receiving regulated or registered business with the introducer form.  There is only the need to periodically on a risk based approach go back to the introducer to confirm that the clients details have not changed during the life of the business relationship, such as the address, and if the details have changed that the copies of the updated due diligence are provided.  Undertaking this approach allows the regulated or registered business potentially less risk as the due diligence will already have been assessed and deemed suitable at the start of the business relationship and less risk of the introducer not subsequently meeting or adhering to their obligations by not providing the required due diligence. This allows for beneficial relationships to develop between the regulated or registered business and the enhancement of Guernsey as a place to do business.

Where clients have a business relationship with a regulated or registered business that is over a period of years, rather than a one off legal transaction where the business relationship is only for a matter of days or weeks.  If the introducer sells these clients during the course of the business relationship to another provider or is taken over, new introducer certificates will have to be obtained by the registered or regulated business or the clients will need to provide due diligence in order that the rules of the GFSC can be met.  Therefore I would always recommend for these longer term business relationships that due diligence is obtained rather than relying on the introducer certificate.

The rules issued by the GFSC state that clients who are introduced cannot then be introduced again by the regulated or registered business e.g. no introducer chains.  This can lead to the issues of a regulated or registered business unknowingly becoming involved in an introducer chain and having then to obtain the client due diligence, which can have an adverse effect on the business relationship with the client and the relationship with the introducer.  This also has the potential for higher cost to the client or loss of earnings by not being able to access an investment product to take advantage of price and in the worst case scenario the client may miss the investment opportunity altogether.

But what if Guernsey could offer a due diligence depository overseen by a regulating authority subject to stringent audits? Just think if clients provided their due diligence to this depository who then ensured that it met the regulatory standards, could this avoid altogether the need to obtain copies of due diligence or have a testing programme?  This depository could then provide registered or regulated businesses with an introducer certificate which would be more reliable and there would be less potential of unknowingly becoming part of an introducer chain or finding out the introducer was unable to meet its obligations. Could this reduce compliance cost to a regulated business and make Guernsey more competitive, the Jurisdiction of choice? Clients would be able to access products and services offered by other regulated or registered business with ease and certainty without suffering from the due diligence treadmill. Why stop at just offering this service to local registered and regulated businesses why not take an international approach and service other jurisdictions.  This could then lead to an enhancing of our economy while diversifying it at the same time.  We have all the right ingredients in Guernsey to undertake this opportunity we just need the political want to do this. But until my utopia happens please think carefully about the use of introducer certificates, sometimes it is actually easier and more beneficial for a registered or regulated business to get original due diligence and can save time money and cost in man hours to undertake the monitoring and any remedial work.