Consultation Paper - Proposed Fee Changes October 2019

Summary

This is a Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) consultation paper proposing revisions to fees charged under the BMA Act 1969 Fourth Schedule, intended to take effect 1 January 2020. It invites industry comment and does not itself impose binding fee obligations while in consultation.

• CSP sector: Introduces a new fee-band structure for Corporate Service Provider (CSP) licensees, replacing the flat $21-per-entity annual fee, with differentiated application fees ($2,540 for limited licences, $5,000 for unlimited licences) and tiered annual fees based on number of entities serviced.
• Investment funds: Introduces initial filing and annual fees for Private Funds (previously Excluded Funds) under the Investment Funds Act 2006, a fee for approval applications for directors/service providers of Professional Class B Funds, and extends the existing $50-per-month late filing penalty to additional IFA filing sections (6(3D), 6B(2), 8C(2)).
• Insurance: Reduces previously published registration and annual fees for Insurance Market Places for 2020 and 2021.
• Innovation hub: Proposes a new BMA Act provision enabling creation of an innovation hub, with an initial hub fee ($3,000) and a three month extension fee ($750) for entities engaging with it, including some non-regulated entities.
• Corrections: Proposes technical corrections to fees currently misstated in or omitted from the Fourth Schedule, to be included in a fees-related Bill before year-end.

As a consultation, the paper seeks stakeholder feedback before the BMA finalises and legislates the fee changes; readers should treat proposed figures as draft pending enactment.

Key obligations

• Stakeholders wishing to comment on the proposed fee changes must submit written comments (using the Summary Sheet for Consultation Comments) to policy@bma.bm no later than 8 November 2019.

Applies to

Corporate Service Providers (CSPs), Investment funds (Private Funds, Professional Class A Funds, Professional Class B Funds), Insurers / Insurance Market Places, Digital asset businesses, Innovation hub participants (including non-regulated entities engaging with the hub)

Deadlines

• 8 November 2019: Deadline for industry and other interested parties to submit written comments on the proposed fee changes to policy@bma.bm.
• 1 January 2020: Proposed effective date for implementation of the fee revisions set out in this consultation paper.