The Guernsey Financial Services Commission published an enforcement public statement against Utmost Worldwide Limited, Chief Executive Officer Leon Steyn and Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer James Alexander Watchorn for long-running financial crime control failings in the firm’s life insurance business. Decisions taken on 9 March 2026 impose financial penalties of GBP 1,960,000 on the firm, GBP 35,000 on Steyn and GBP 10,500 on Watchorn, and prohibit Watchorn from holding Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Money Laundering Compliance Officer roles for one year and five months. The Commission concluded the failings were serious and systemic and spanned 2015 to 2025, driven by an underestimation of financial crime risk linked to the firm’s historic use of unregulated brokers in developing countries and weak ongoing client engagement until pay-out events. Key findings included an overreliance on trigger-event reviews that left fewer than 3.50% of approximately 22,500 high-risk clients subject to annual review, widespread deficiencies in relationship risk assessments, source of wealth and source of funds evidence, and shortcomings in screening and monitoring for politically exposed persons, adverse media and sanctions. The statement also criticises the slow remediation of forged proof of address documents linked to a third-party broker affecting around 1,900 client files, with around 200 still unremediated in 2024, and non-compliance with the 2019 Handbook transitional requirement to review all business relationships by 31 December 2021; it further identifies governance and oversight weaknesses by Steyn and instances where Watchorn downplayed money laundering red flags. As mitigation, the Commission notes a remediation programme launched in late 2023, including a new risk assessment methodology, re-rating of all clients, and a planned review cycle of 1, 3 and 5 years for high, standard and low-risk relationships respectively, while warning remediation may take a considerable period to complete.
Guernsey Financial Services Commission 2026-03-12
Guernsey Financial Services Commission fines Utmost Worldwide Limited GBP 1.96 million and bans James Watchorn from Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Money Laundering Compliance Officer roles for one year and five months
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission issued an enforcement statement against Utmost Worldwide Limited, CEO Leon Steyn, and Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer James Alexander Watchorn for systemic financial crime control failings from 2015 to 2025. Penalties include GBP 1,960,000 for the firm, GBP 35,000 for Steyn, and GBP 10,500 for Watchorn, with Watchorn barred from certain roles for 17 months. The Commission highlighted deficiencies in client risk assessments, monitoring, and compliance, noting a remediation program initiated in late 2023.