Jersey authorities see regulation as a potential advantage

The UK dependency of Jersey has taken steps to tighten its regime of financial supervision to combat the perception dogging many offshore financial centres that it offers a haven for tax dodgers and money launderers. Nick Kochan looks at the specific areas the island has addressed in its regulatory drive

Regulation is at the core of the offshore world's claim to provide a legitimate service to the global economy, at a time when many onshore countries are seeking to bolster their declining budgets by curbing the amount slipping out of their jurisdictions into low- or zero-tax centres. These low-tax countries - they baulk at the term ‘offshore', preferring to be called ‘international financial centres' - try to build reputations for financial probity by complying with the highest standards of