A CODE of corporate governance will give Guernsey’s finance sector an advantage over its nearest rivals, according to the head of the practitioner working party behind it.

Consultation on the draft version of the code came to a close earlier this month with an expectation that it will be put into place and implemented by May.

It will replace the Guernsey Financial Services Commission’s Guidance on Corporate Governance in the Finance Sector, which following the global financial crisis is no longer considered sufficiently current.

Carol Goodwin, (pictured) who led the working party, is confident its introduction will be good news for Guernsey, particularly as Jersey and the Isle of Man are currently without a code of corporate governance despite Jersey having its own banking code in place.

‘I believe that if the regulators take great care in handling and implementing the detailed requirements of the code and accept that it must be proportionate to the needs to individual businesses, then it will certainly be a competitive advantage for Guernsey.

‘It will reinforce the message that we conduct ourselves in a professional manner and shows we are in touch with what the market and investors want to see.’

• Read the full story in the Guernsey Press. See below for subscription details.