Jersey under fire for lack of finance ombudsman

Thursday 31st May 2007, 12:00AM BST.

JERSEY is lagging far behind other developed nations in the western world by not having a financial ombudsman, it was claimed yesterday.

Last night Walter Merricks, the chief ombudsman of the UK financial ombudsman service, spoke at the agm of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and emphasised the need for an ombudsman in the Island, particularly as it is an internationally renowned finance centre. Speaking before his talk, he also revealed that his department, which consists of over 700 staff, was asked five years ago to help the Island authorities set up an ombudsman in the Island. ‘We were asked to comment and gave a lot of assistance and we did, but then it all went quiet,’ he said.

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