Local financial compliance firm fined $120K
The BVI Financial Services Commission (BVIFSC) has imposed an administrative penalty of $120,000 against TMF (BVI) Ltd.
TMF BVI is a company which provides critical compliance and administrative services for trusts and companies registered in the territory.
The BVIFSC – which provides oversight for the local financial services industry – said the company breached the Anti-Money Laundering Terrorist Financing Code of Practice, 2008.
Among other things, the BVIFSC said the company failed to engage in enhanced customer due diligence and failed to test third party relationships, as stipulated by the law.
The fine is the stiffest the BVIFSC has levied this year. In January, ILS Fiduciary (BVI) Limited was fined $35,000 and Intertrust Corporate Services (BVI) Limited was fined $30,000 in March.
Three firms had their licenses revoked this year, while four financial services firms were fined in 2022.
Local financial services authorities continue to apply stringent regulatory rules to the industry as the BVI aims to remain compliant with a string of international rules and regulations that are in place to combat money laundering.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
That’ll be going into the tuck shop fund.
Yes I!…fine and confine.
what you gotta say now ? is it the UK , that is making us look bad ? ( I hope your hands are clean )
Good diligence Good job
No christmas party this year….
Enforcing this $120K fine. The corporate personnel will just set up shop in another jurisdiction and continue business as usual.
What is your story? TMF has every legal right to challenge the imposition of the fine if there is grounds for it and it has absolutely nothing to do with setting up business in another jurisdiction.
It has to do with how such a fine will affect all of the underlying companies i.e. the opening of bank accounts and doing business etc.
Please go some place and sit down!
… TMF think that the FSC doesn’t understand what it is doing, and that the BVI function will be closed down and the work done elsewhere.
Those for whatever reason they don’t likes will suffer..That’s how they do it..Its never about standards and rules, it’s always about likes and dislikes. Using the dislikes as example to say they doing something when the companies they favour are doing worse..
IN 2017 the FSC agreed it was unfair to publish administrative fines as does no good repute to any stakeholders (including the FSC – McNamara has a huge list of infractions and only fined $20k! Clearly a very biased fundraising exercise). Between 2017 and 2021 there were significant fines but not published. I wholeheartedly disagree with the publishing of administrative fines where there is no significant/criminal element/public interest t (ie firms operating without a licence) which undermines the reputation of local firms. Its our reputation at stake and clearly FSC bases the fine on the profit of the company not the default.
There are two certain banks I want them to scrutinize also, but that has yet to happen……..
Work already been done elsewhere
main street firms, some of them don’t follow the rules