The Guernsey Financial Services Commission has published a public statement setting out enforcement decisions made in 2023 against former Weighbridge Trust Limited executive directors Paul Conway and Linda Dowding over historic failures at the fiduciary business, predominantly before 2018. Conway was fined GBP 30,000 and Dowding GBP 40,000. Both were prohibited from performing any function for three years and had the exemption in section 3(1)(g) of the 2020 Fiduciaries Law disapplied for the same period. The Commission concluded that the firm, under its previous board and controllers, and the two individuals failed to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and the minimum criteria for licensing. The investigation, opened in March 2018 after a 2017 onsite visit, found serious and systemic weaknesses in financial crime risk management, transaction monitoring, record keeping, AML/CFT compliance and conflict management. The Commission highlighted inaccurate or misleading trust documentation, incomplete records of settlors and beneficiaries, around GBP 16.5 million sent over five years to a foreign bank account whose holder the firm could not identify, a circa USD 28 million trust investment made without adequate due diligence that later had nil value, and 800 outstanding sets of financial accounts across 325 client entities by January 2017. It treated the business as a repeat offender because shortcomings identified in 2015 were not adequately remediated by the 2017 onsite visit. Conway was also cited for a misleading 2014 attestation on compliance arrangements, while Dowding was criticised for not ensuring effective remediation before leaving in 2016 and for failing to manage a conflict linked to a personal loan between directors. The statement adds that the current board and controllers were not responsible for the historic misconduct and have since completed remediation, with all licence conditions and risk mitigation programmes lifted or completed.

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