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John Fernandez Guernsey political reporter
BBCA member of the Committee for Economic Development (ED) says she is “sceptical” about if a new finance strategy will deliver benefits for Guernsey.
That is despite the committee’s vice-president, Andrew Niles, stating it would drive growth, increase incomes, and strengthen the island’s long‑term economic resilience.
ED commissioned consultants Oliver Wyman to produce the strategy, which is set to be presented in March. It cost £559,300, with 62.5% of that being met by the States and the rest paid for by industry.
Deputy Haley Camp said: “I am going to maintain an optimistic scepticism at this point, which I think is the best role I can play given the amount of taxpayer funding at stake here.”
When the report was initially commissioned last year, two of the five members of ED voted against the work – Deputies Lee Van Katwyk and Camp.
The committee’s President, Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, Deputies Rhona Humphreys and Andrew Niles voted for it.
At an address to Guernsey’s finance industry at the Guernsey Finance Industry Update for 2026 Niles said: “This was the most comprehensive assessment of Guernsey’s financial sector in a generation.
“By working together and acting with discipline and pace, we can ensure that Guernsey remains a trusted, relevant, and prosperous international financial centre for the next generation.”
Deputy Camp was more lukewarm after seeing the strategy: “This is an area where I will always be outspoken, given my frustration that it has taken hundreds of thousands of pounds for the stakeholders to listen, in the main, either to what industry participants have been saying for years or which other jurisdictions have taken the lead on.
“So, I am sceptical, but I am going to work hard to press for this progress to be made, the biggest of which needs to see government and the regulator not only come to the table but constructively reset the relationship.”
Camp stressed that she was keen to see the finance industry flourish in a way that would benefit the entire island.
‘Extraordinary cost’ criticised
As the island’s biggest employer, it comprised 17.7% of Guernsey’s total jobs in 2025 and Niles told the audience at the industry update it made up 40% of Guernsey’s GDP.
Last year, States figures showed the finance sector had the highest median earnings at £56,837.
Deputy Camp was critical of the costs of the new strategy: “I think we could have resolved much of this already and without the extraordinary cost incurred, but we are where we are and a majority of my colleagues on Economic Development felt it was money well spent.
“As always, I’ll believe it when I can see tangible proof of it, it is vitally important that words now translate into action.”
Guernsey Finance CEO, Barnaby Molloy, said the strategy would provide “more opportunity than we’ve ever had before” for the finance industry to grow.