Modern Slavery Act 2015: Transparency in Supply Chains Statement 2017

Introduction

Mourant is a leading international law firm and a provider of specialist governance services.  We strive for excellence and the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and integrity in every aspect of our business.  We are committed to combating slavery and human trafficking and to engaging with our suppliers to ensure that they do not engage in slavery or human trafficking or any activity which would be associated with these practices.   We have introduced a Code of Business Conduct which articulates the ethics, values and principles we seek to apply throughout our business and which we also expect our suppliers to follow.

This statement is published pursuant to Section 54 of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 on behalf of Mourant and its affiliated business, Mourant Governance Services for the financial year 31 January 2017.

Organisational Structure and Business

Mourant Ozannes is a leading offshore law firm with expertise in British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey law. We have offices in these jurisdictions as well as London and Hong Kong. Through our affiliated business, Mourant Governance Services, we deliver a complementary range of fiduciary, administration and governance services.

Commitment to Supply Chain that is free from Modern Slavery or Human Trafficking

As a provider of legal and corporate administration services, we view the risk of modern slavery within our business to be low and our supply chain to be straightforward. Nevertheless, we are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chain or any part of our business.

As a professional services business, we comply with all relevant laws and regulations and many of our employees are members of professional organisations and are themselves subject to professional codes of conduct. We have firm wide policies and procedures in place to mitigate the risk of our business being exposed to money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption. We also have policies and procedures in place to ensure that the culture within Mourant is one of lawful and ethical behaviour, openness, trust and integrity.

As part of our commitment to identify and mitigate any risk of modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chain or any part of our business, we have engaged with our suppliers to communicate to them that we expect all of our suppliers to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 as well as all other relevant laws concerning the fair treatment of workers. We continue to keep our policies and procedures under review to see if any changes need to be made in light of our obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, with the aim of further driving best practice amongst our suppliers.

We have introduced a new Code of Business Conduct which sets out our commitment to upholding the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and integrity. Our Business Code of Conduct can be found on our website and will be sent to our key suppliers to remind them of our requirement that they adhere to the same standards we do.

Training

We provide training to our key staff so they are able to understand the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and to ensure that our business operations are at all times conducted in accordance with the policies set out in this statement.

Signed by Keith Pearse, Partner of Mourant LP on 7 August 2018

2016 statement