The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (FSC) has outlined its vision for the future of the island’s financial services sector through digital and sustainable growth.

In an address, Guernsey FSC director general, William Mason, set out the organisation's regulatory agenda that aimed to ensure Guernsey’s reputation as an innovation-friendly jurisdiction.

He emphasised the island’s ambition to be one of Europe’s most supportive jurisdictions for innovation in digital finance, setting out plans for a consultation on regulatory changes designed to facilitate tokenisation, stablecoins, and secure digital asset custody.

Mason urged financial services firms to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline operations and remain internationally competitive.

Additionally, to further support innovation, the director general announced that the FSC’s existing ‘soundbox’ would be rebranded and expanded into a full regulatory sandbox, alongside an enhanced concierge service to support firms in bringing new products and services to market.

The commission will also publish new anti-greenwashing guidance to provide clarity on how existing licensing criteria already prevent misleading sustainability claims.

Furthermore, Mason outlined updates to the Finance Sector Code of Corporate Governance to expand the current expectation for boards to consider climate-related risks, extending it to include broader environmental sustainability risks, including climate change and biodiversity.

Concluding his speech, Mason emphasised that long-term resilience was built on sustainable economic growth, rather than attempts to remove all risk, and warned that overly risk-averse regulatory practices could be barriers to prosperity.

“We have no interest in simply guarding souls waiting to cross the River Styx,” he said.

“We want to be the regulator of the alive, the innovating, the growing and the prospering.”

Commenting on the address, Guernsey Finance CEO, Barnaby Molloy, said: "William’s remarks reflect the qualities that distinguish Guernsey internationally: pragmatic regulation, innovation-driven policy design and a strong focus on quality and credibility.

“This strategy points Guernsey’s financial services industry in a direction for continued growth across both sustainable and digital finance, reinforcing Guernsey’s position as a forward-thinking international financial centre.”

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