Civil Penalties - Meritus Trust Company Limited (2024-12-30)

Summary

This is a public enforcement notice from the Bermuda Monetary Authority announcing civil penalties of $600,000 imposed on Meritus Trust Company Limited, a trust and corporate service provider licensed under the Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 and the Corporate Service Provider Business Act 2012. The penalties relate to breaches identified during 2022 on site inspections and the matter has since been closed following successful remediation.

• Basis for penalties: Failures to adequately comply with the Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering & Anti-Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2008, the Trusts Act and the CSPB Act.
• AML/ATF failings: Included inadequate internal controls around outsourcing of the independent audit function, insufficient product/service risk rating, inappropriate customer risk assessments, incomplete CDD documentation, weak ongoing monitoring and PEP screening, overreliance on manual sanctions screening, and undocumented training.
• Licensing criteria failings: Failure to conduct business in accordance with prudent business requirements and to implement adequate corporate governance and control systems commensurate with its risk profile, as required under the Trusts Act and CSPB Act.
• Remediation outcome: The Authority required remediation by 31 July 2023 (as extended where approved); the Company complied within the required timeframe and the on site matter has been closed.
• Mitigating factors considered: Included the Company's compliance culture, low risk of client loss, cooperation during remediation, and measures implemented to prevent recurrence.

The notice is retrospective and case specific: it records a concluded enforcement action rather than imposing new ongoing requirements, but it signals the Authority's expectations that trust and corporate service licensees maintain robust, well documented AML/ATF and governance frameworks proportionate to their risk profile.

Applies to

trust companies, corporate service providers, licensees under the Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001, licensees under the Corporate Service Provider Business Act 2012

Deadlines

• 31 July 2023: Deadline set by the Authority for Meritus Trust Company Limited to remediate the identified AML/ATF and licensing criteria breaches (or as extended with approval).