Complaints Against Regulated Financial Services Businesses

If you have a justified complaint against a regulated entity and you have suffered a loss, you should first raise the matter with the regulated entity itself. The Commission expects regulated entities to have satisfactory systems and controls in place to enable them to deal with customer complaints in a thorough and prompt manner.

If this does not resolve the matter to your satisfaction you should seek advice from a qualified Guernsey advocate (lawyer). A list of Guernsey advocates is available from the Guernsey Bar. You may also wish to consider exploring alternative dispute resolution to settle your dispute. If so, it is suggested you contact the Mediation Group.

The Commission welcomes information about unresolved complaints as it finds these helpful in highlighting shortcomings within regulated firms. Complaints may indicate flaws in a regulated entity’s policies and/or procedures, and the Commission may decide that your complaint raises conduct, financial crime, or prudential concerns about a regulated firm which the Commission can then act to correct.

The Commission may decide to instigate its own investigation into matters connected with your complaint which could lead to supervisory or enforcement actions against the entity in question. However, the Commission is prevented by law from disclosing to complainants the progress being made with any investigation, or the outcome of its investigation and what action(s) it may be taking or have taken. All of the Commission’s dealings with the firms it regulates are conducted on a confidential basis so as to encourage them to be completely open and transparent with the Commission. This is an essential component of the framework under which the Commission operates.

It is also important to emphasise that the Commission does not have the power either to adjudicate in a dispute, or to order the regulated entity to put matters right. In particular, we cannot order a firm to pay you compensation. However, the Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman's office is able to adjudicate in disputes between customers and several significant classes of consumer facing regulated entities.