§ Maria EagleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the implementation by the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man of the Edwards report on Financial Regulation in the Crown Dependencies. [115188]
§ Mr. StrawJersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have produced reports setting out the steps that they have taken and are continuing to take to give effect to the conclusions of the Edwards Report. I have today placed copies of the Islands' reports in the Library.
I am encouraged by the positive and constructive way in which the authorities in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have responded to the challenge of the Edwards Report. Although the Report placed them in the top division of offshore centres, the authorities in all three jurisdictions have been implementing programmes of further improvement in their systems of financial regulation which had begun even before the publication of the Report in November 1998. These programmes are still being taken forward; the islands recognise that the process of improving financial regulation must be a continuing one that works for the benefits of their economies and will strengthen the integrity of offshore financial centres.