Guernsey Financial Services Commission updates financial crime handbook to remove South Africa from its higher risk jurisdictions list

The Guernsey Financial Services Commission has updated its Handbook on Countering Financial Crime to remove South Africa from Appendix I, its list of higher risk jurisdictions, following the Financial Action Task Force’s decision to take South Africa off its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring. The FATF also removed Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Nigeria from increased monitoring, but these remain on Appendix I because they continue to be listed by other relevant external sources. The Commission reminded licensees that removal from Appendix I does not automatically mean business relationships connected to that jurisdiction should be treated as lower risk. Risk assessments should consider the nature and materiality of the jurisdictional link and whether other risk drivers remain unchanged, including the customer and beneficial owner risk profile, activities, sources of wealth and funds, and the product or service provided. Clean and tracked versions of the updated Handbook, including Appendix I, have been made available via the Commission’s Handbook pages.