In early 2025, the landscape for cross-border finance and corporate communicators continues to change at pace. Keeping close to industry trends and developments is critical.

Here’s the Crystal team’s regular snapshot of some of the highlights and points of note from around the jurisdictions this past month…

• Guernsey: Moneyval published a positive report on Guernsey’s ability to combat money laundering
• IoM: meanwhile, the date for the next Moneyval assessment of the IoM has been set too – October 2026
• Jersey: the JFSC launched its 2025 business plan at an event on 11 Feb, with competitiveness at its heart, including changes to the structure and competitiveness of fees and a review of the Registry
• BVI: the British Virgin Islands marked 40 years since the incorporation of its first ‘International Business Company’ in 1984, highlighting its key achievements over the last year
• BVI: also in the BVI, the United Nations released a report recommending that the islands stablish a clear timeline for independence
• Cayman: a parliamentary white paper outlined a raft of proposed immigration reforms, including requiring work-permit holders to leave Cayman for a year before they can work for a new employer – measures that were met with opposition from Cayman Finance
• Cayman: in addition in Cayman a major earthquake a little more than 100 miles off the coast brought the prospect of a tsunami and the possible consequences to local headlines
• Social Media and Young People: the UK head of counterterrorism called for bans on social media platform use by under-16s
• Media: UK and European institutional investor market title Portfolio Institutional announced it would be going digital only, as from March
• Sustainable Finance: figures from Luxembourg funds body ALFI showed that sustainable funds grew 20.2% last year, outpacing conventional funds, which expanded by 16.9%. Sustainable investments now account for 19% of the European fund market, up from just 6% in 2019
• Finfluencers: Nearly 20,000 financial adverts had to be withdrawn or amended in the UK in 2024 after the FCA stepped in – nearly double the amount in 2023
• AI and Wealth Management: Microsoft has set out its case for AI to play an increasingly significant role in delivering wealth management