Set apart – the UK Crown Dependencies

Britain’s Crown Dependencies (CDs) - the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man - have always been tricky customers for the world’s anti-money laundering (AML) authorities to get a fix on. Alan Osborn takes the latest soundings.

The difficulties that the agencies face shows up in the approach the European Commission adopts in its so-called AML ‘white list’. Agreed by EU member states, this is a “positive” indicator, according to a Commission note, “recognising those jurisdictions whose AML regimes meet the same standards as those in the EU” (from which the Crown Dependencies remain apart). The list specifically includes French and Dutch overseas territories by name but Britain’s CDs are dealt with somewhat sniffily in a footnote that says they “may also be considered as equivalent by Member States.”