Deputy Carla McNulty Bauer talks to Lord Hunt.

A REVIEW of Guernsey banking will help set its strategic direction and ensure a successful future for the industry, the minister for Commerce and Employment has said.

The department has asked Lord Hunt of Wirral, chairman of the financial services division of Beachcroft LLP, to conduct a strategic review of the island’s banking industry and minister Carla McNulty Bauer said it would help the States keep the sector successful in the long term.

She said that, with global financial issues at the forefront of forthcoming G20 summit discussions, this was the perfect time for the review to take place.

‘We feel that now is the time to set the strategic direction for the industry to ensure that Guernsey has a prosperous, stable and successful banking sector for the future,’ she said.

The local banking sector employs about 2,900 people, making up substantially more than a third of the whole finance industry.

Following recent global financial turmoil, banking is undergoing a period of change and consolidation, the department said.

Lord Hunt will examine the current structure and nature of Guernsey’s banking industry and advise the department on the direction it should take.