United Nations Convention Against Corruption
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United Nations Convention against Corruption Self-assessment Name: UK Crown Dependency - The Bailiwick of Guernsey Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Date of creation: 24/11/2017 Assessor: Renny Mendoza Assessor Position: International Policy Advisor - Joint Anti-Corruption Unit Release: 3.0.0.15 Comments: Completed self-assessment checklists should be sent to: Corruption and Economic Crime Section Division for Treaty Affairs United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Vienna International Centre PO Box 500 1400 Vienna, Austria Attn: KAMBERSKA Natasha Telephone: + (43) (1) 26060-4293 Telefax: + (43) (1) 26060-74293 E-mail: [email protected] A. General information A. General information 1. General information 1519 1 Focal point: Renny Mendoza 2 Institutions consulted: See UK submission. 3 Please provide information on the ratification/acceptance/approval/accession process of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in your country (date of ratification/acceptance/approval of/accession to the Convention, date of entry into force of the Convention in your country, procedure to be followed for ratification/acceptance/approval of/accession to international conventions etc.). See UK submission. 4 Please briefly describe the legal and institutional system of your country. See UK submission. 5 In a separate communication addressed and e-mailed to the secretariat ([email protected]), please provide a list of relevant laws, policies and/or other measures that are cited in the responses to the self-assessment checklist along with, if available online, a hyperlink to each document and, if available, summaries of such documents. For those documents not available online, please include the texts of those documents and, if available, summaries thereof in an attachment to the e-mail. If available, please also provide a link to, or the texts of, any versions of these documents in other official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish). Please revert to this question after finishing your self-assessment to ensure that all legislation, policies and/or other measures you have cited are included in the list. See UK submission. 6 Please provide a hyperlink to or copy of any available assessments of measures to combat corruption and mechanisms to review the implementation of such measures taken by your country that you wish to share as good practices. See UK submission. 7 Please provide the relevant information regarding the preparation of your responses to the self- assessment checklist. See UK submission. 8 Please describe three practices that you consider to be good practices in the implementation of the chapters of the Convention that are under review. See UK submission. 9 Please describe (cite and summarize) the measures/steps, if any, your country needs to take, together with the related time frame, to ensure full compliance with the chapters of the Convention that are under review, and specifically indicate to which articles of the Convention such measures would relate. See UK submission. 11/01/2018 United Kingdom of UK Crown Dependency - The Bailiwick Page 2 of 125 Great Britain and of Guernsey Northern Ireland II. Preventive measures 5. Preventive anti-corruption policies and practices 2. Paragraph 1 of article 5 1. Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, develop and implement or maintain effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies that promote the participation of society and reflect the principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, integrity, transparency and accountability. 1520 Is your country in compliance with this provision? 0 (Y) Yes 1522 1 Please describe (cite and summarize) the measures/steps your country has taken, if any, (or is planning to take, together with the related appropriate time frame) to ensure full compliance with this provision of the Convention. Guernsey has developed, implemented and maintained anti - corruption policies which are set out in 2 strategy documents and an asset recovery policy document (see next section). They were drawn up by government and the financial crime authorities, and were based on quantitative and qualitative information, including statistics, case experience and information obtained from the private sector. The policies are targeted at the possible involvement of Guernsey natural and legal persons in corruption occurring elsewhere (although implementation measures such as corporate governance requirements apply equally to domestic activity). This international focus reflects Guernsey’s position as an international finance centre with no endemic domestic corruption problems. The policies contain measures for addressing the two aspects of international risk that have been identified. These are proceeds based risk, i.e. risk of proceeds of corruption generated abroad being located in, passing through or administered in Guernsey, and activity based risk, i.e. risk of the businesses established, administered or financed in Guernsey having links to overseas activity where the corruption risk is high and therefore making corrupt payments. The authorities have regularly reviewed the assessment of Guernsey’s risk profile for corruption and it is unchanged. 1525 1 Please provide examples of the implementation of those measures, including related court or other cases, available statistics etc. In 2011 Guernsey developed a Foreign Bribery and Corruption Strategy. Its objectives included the creation of a dedicated Anti-Bribery and Corruption Committee and improved coordination, capacity building and outreach. In 2014 the government enacted an asset recovery policy which focussed in particular on the recovery of the proceeds of corruption. In 2016, the Foreign Bribery and Corruption Strategy was enhanced by a Focussed Anti Bribery And Corruption Policy Framework for targeting focus and outreach at business relationships and activities linked to high risk countries and sectors. 11/01/2018 United Kingdom of UK Crown Dependency - The Bailiwick Page 3 of 125 Great Britain and of Guernsey Northern Ireland Another example of implementation is the inclusion of corruption risk as a key factor in the methodology used by the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership to apply a risk -based approach to his oversight functions. The Foreign Bribery and Corruption strategy, the Asset Recovery Policy, the Focussed Anti Bribery And Corruption Policy Framework and the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership’s methodology can be provided upon request. 11/01/2018 United Kingdom of UK Crown Dependency - The Bailiwick Page 4 of 125 Great Britain and of Guernsey Northern Ireland 3. Paragraph 2 of article 5 2. Each State Party shall endeavour to establish and promote effective practices aimed at the prevention of corruption. 1520 Is your country in compliance with this provision? 0 (Y) Yes 1522 1 Please describe (cite and summarize) the measures/steps your country has taken, if any, (or is planning to take, together with the related appropriate time frame) to ensure full compliance with this provision of the Convention. One of the actions in the Foreign Bribery and Corruption Strategy is to ensure effective compliance with relevant anti-bribery and corruption standards and measures. Various steps have been taken to promote this, including the following: · Information on bribery and corruption is included in the Handbooks issued by the financial services supervisor, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. · In 2012 Guernsey organised a major anti-corruption conference, where presentations were given to the private sector by local and international speakers (including representatives from the OECD, the World Bank and the UK government). · Since 2013 onwards, outreach on corruption has been routinely carried out by the regulatory authorities in respect of the sectors they supervise. In 2016 the government hired a research assistant to review Guernsey’s anti-corruption measures. This led to targeted outreach on bribery and corruption to financial services businesses and others, and also to more general outreach by placing detailed information on bribery and corruption on its website. The guidance includes recommendations on corporate governance for industry and third sector organisations. 1525 1 Please provide examples of the implementation of those measures, including related court or other cases, available statistics etc. The information on the government website referred to above is available here: <https://www.gov.gg/article/156152/Bribery-and-corruption>. Since the introduction of dedicated anti-corruption legislation in 2003 there has only been one known case of domestic corruption (which led to a successful prosecution that has just been upheld on appeal - details are available here: <http://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/article/157970/2017>). This indicates that understanding and compliance on anti-corruption issues is high. This is consistent with the findings of the regulatory authorities, who assess the extent to which the sectors they supervise understand and comply with their obligations to put in place anti-corruption measures. Because of the international nature of Guernsey’s corruption risks, the authorities routinely compare data on suspicious activity reports (SARs) with that on incoming mutual legal assistance requests, to see if there are any inconsistencies between the two data sets which would indicate that the SAR regime