Country Manual Private Banking
Guernsey
out of Bank’s Country of Establishment (Def, RS, BT & RT)
| Source of changes | Answers |
|---|---|
| Law / Regulation | No |
| New Position of the Authorities | Yes |
| Evolution of Expert’s Interpretation | Yes |
Regulatory Template, Regulatory Summary and Behaviour Template
Material changes
Following liaison with counsel and review of other legal sources the wording in the RT has been modified so that it incorporates consistent wording that reverse solicitation has no impact on deposit advertising requirements in Guernsey.
We have added new comments and wording for promotion of advisory investment services;
We have reworded the section covering account opening documentation negotiation;
There is new wording and new comments for advisory services including recommendation lists.
For the BT as a result some answers have changed.
For actively and passively providing documentation on the Bank’s Banking Services onsite and by remote means the answers have changed from NO to Grey Zone/YES, but there are strict conditions that the Guernsey Code of Conduct for Deposit advertisements applies, and Guernsey Financial Services Commission pre-approval is required.
For actively and passively presenting the Bank’s Investment Services and Providing Documentation on Investment Services onsite and by remote means there is a new comment for non-qualified prospects that the presentation should have General information only in relation to advisory investment services and for qualified prospects a new comment that presentation should be in reliance on an available exemption – there is an exemption which applies if the Bank’s Head Office is in one of the countries or territories designated for the purposes of section 44(1)(d) of the Protection of Investors Law.
For presenting the Bank in General Terms, providing the Bank’s annual report and press reviews, providing Marketing Brochures all on a reverse solicitation basis onsite and by remote means the answers are Grey Zone/YES with a condition that no deposit advertisement should be communicated. This reflects the interpretation that there is no exemption from Guernsey deposit advertising requirements under reverse solicitation.
For presenting the Bank’s Banking Services onsite and by remote means following reverse solicitation the answer is now Grey zone/NO. Given the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Deposit Advertisements (e.g. that all advertisements must be reviewed by the GFSC prior to publication) it is not possible to market deposit-taking at a face-to-face meeting or by telephone, or by other real-time remote means of communication. There is no recognition of reverse solicitation with regard to the marketing of deposit taking.
For active negotiation activities onsite and by remote means in respect of Account Opening the answers are now Grey zone rather than NO apart from for collection of forms where the answer is Grey zone/YES as this is a lower risk activity. A risk based decision should be taken – there is a risk of activity being qualified as advertising of financial services and there should be no promotion of services or products.
For passive negotiation activities onsite and by remote means in respect of Account Opening the answers are now Grey zone/YES with the condition that there is no promotion of services or products.
For negotiation activities in respect of Investment Advisory Agreements the answers are now Grey zone/YES rather than Grey zone/NO due to a change in the interpretation of whether advice in provided in Guernsey. Where advice given to a client in Guernsey is regarded as being provided outside of Guernsey for regulatory purposes, no licensing would be required where pre-contractual activity takes place on the Bank’s initiative with a prospect in Guernsey relating to advisory services. The advisory agreement should make it clear that advice is not being provided from Guernsey.
For active provision of generic or personalised recommendation lists and spot advice by remote means the answers are now Grey zone/YES rather than NO due to a change in the interpretation of whether advice in provided in Guernsey. There is no formal legal definition of what constitutes “in or from within the Bailiwick” but it is generally accepted to mean that if a person or entity physically engages in the “controlled investment business” from outside of Guernsey, has no place of business or permanent establishment in Guernsey and does not have agents acting on its behalf from within Guernsey then it is not acting “in or from within the Bailiwick”. As such if the Bank provides investment advice to a client within Guernsey exclusively from outside of Guernsey and without establishing a presence in Guernsey, then it is unlikely to be considered conducting business “in or from within” the Bailiwick. Documentation agreed with the client should make it clear that advice is provided from outside of Guernsey. Advice should not be provided onsite in Guernsey. For the same reason the answers for such activities on a passive basis are now Grey zone/NO onsite and Grey zone/YES by remote means. The same restrictions apply and it is only for the promotion of investments that there is a reverse solicitation exemption.
For active advice provided under an ongoing agreement, the answer for onsite advice is now NO, but the answer for activity by remote means is Grey zone/YES. If the Bank provides investment advice to a client within Guernsey exclusively from outside of Guernsey and without establishing a presence in Guernsey, then it is unlikely to be considered conducting business “in or from within” the Bailiwick. Documentation agreed with the client should make it clear that advice is provided from outside of Guernsey. Advice should not be provided onsite in Guernsey. For the same reasons, for passive advice provided under an ongoing agreement, the answer for onsite advice is now Grey zone/NO, but the answer for activity by remote means is Grey zone/YES. There is no reverse solicitation exemption for the provision of advice.
Non-material changes
The Third Party Section has been revised to bring it into line with the changes above.
BT Short Comparison
This document allows users to quickly identify the modifications made compared to the previous version of the PB Manual (BT Short Comparison). The BT Short Comparison can be found on BRP’s platform (mybrponline) in the Search tab by entering in the Document Field “CM PB BT SHORT COMP” and “GUERNSEY” in the Target Country Field.
The BT Short Comparison should be read as follows:
The first column contains a short description of the activity in question. The second column contains the answers of the previous version of the Country Manual (online until the day of the alert). The third column contains the new answers of the most recent version of the Country Manual. Only the modified answers are displayed (in color). If the answers in the new version are unchanged compared to the previous version, they are shaded in grey.
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Geneva, July 17th, 2025