Companies to protect investors?

Friday 1st May 2009, 3:00PM BST.

Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean

FINANCIAL services firms could be asked to contribute to an investor compensation scheme, as well as a depositor protection fund.

As reported briefly last week, Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean has commissioned consultants Oxera to look again at the cost-benefit analysis of establishing funding to compensate investors who have been badly advised.

The minister says that if new laws are required, the department will aim to bring those to the States within the next two years at the latest. In the past, the Island’s government has been firmly opposed to such a scheme because of the costs.

The recent change of heart follows a case involving 28 Jersey couples and individuals who were badly advised by a local investment firm and who, in many cases, lost their life savings.

The firm Alternate Insurance Services Ltd was taken to court by the Jersey Financial Services Commission in 2006 and the judge awarded the investors compensation of over £1.5 million in total.

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1
Bill Flowerpot

May 1, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Absolutely marvelous, once again one of our illustrious leaders has decided to spend more of our tax monies! By wasting time and money getting in a UK consultancy firm to tell him and his counterparts what Jersey has to do. By the time they have finished we could have compensated those people with the money paid to the consultancy group.
What about the banks who have brought about the latest World crisis undoubtedly this will soon be forgotten and the banks will be in the clear.

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2
Boris

May 1, 2009 at 6:10 pm

good point my old flower, I have to say I resent being lectured on compensation for clients and cleaning up an industry by an estate agent. One would have thought he might have used his time more productivly in sorting out estate agents an industry which has no regulation at all and deals with the most expensive purchases of our lives.

What have you got to say to that Mr Mclean?

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3
Finchos

May 2, 2009 at 8:30 am

Fantastic, Maclean decides that to cover up for the mistakes made by the JFSC, and the generosity of the States deciding to gift out large chunks of money to those who have made poor investment decisions, they can be bailed out by charging the financial services firms to cover their errors. Typical small minded shallow political decision. What did the hard working, tax paying, law abiding people of Jersey expect from our increasingly foolish States officials. These people are ruining the very services and industry which has made Jersey what it is (or at least could and should be).

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4
JERSEYFRANCIS

May 3, 2009 at 4:29 pm

It is well known,that shares can and do,go down as well as up.so if you want to take a gamble,and the shares go down.tough.i have a bank a/c,and am not prepared to gamble with my money.if i did invest in shares,and lost the lot,thats life.i would not expect the states to pay.

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