DNFBPs

Who is caught

The Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2008 establishes Bermuda's AML/ATF supervisory framework and, together with the Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2008, brings a range of non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) into scope. Each sector is assigned a supervisory authority, and both non-licensed AML/ATF regulated financial institutions and regulated non-financial businesses or professions must register.

• Real estate brokers and agents: Supervised by the Superintendent of Real Estate under the 2008 Act and subject to the AML/ATF Regulations.
• Dealers in high value goods: Supervised by the Registrar of Companies; brought into scope where accepting cash payments of BMD 7,500 or more, and must be registered with the Registrar to fall within scope.
• Casino operators: Supervised by the Bermuda Gaming Commission, with specific casino and patron-account rules under the Regulations.
• Independent professionals: Barristers and accountants acting in that capacity are supervised by the Barristers and Accountants AML/ATF Board, designated as supervisory authority under the 2008 Designation Order.
• Corporate service providers: Supervised by the BMA, both as licensees under the Corporate Service Provider Business Act 2012 and as AML/ATF regulated financial institutions under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Corporate service provider business

Corporate service provider (CSP) business as defined in the Corporate Service Provider Business Act 2012 covers company and partnership formation agency, nominee services, registered office and administrative or secretarial services, and resident representative functions. Any person or entity carrying on such business for profit in or from Bermuda requires a licence unless exempted. Lawyers or law firms acting as formation agents or arranging directors or officers in a manner amounting to CSP business also require a licence.

Sources: Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Supervision and Enforcement) Designation Order 2012 (BR 64/2012) · Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2008 · Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2008 · CSP Business Act 2012 - Guidance Notes: Information for Prospective Applicants (March 2020) · Response to Industry on the Corporate Service Provider Business Act 2012 (2012-03-02) · CSP - Code of Practice (September 2019)

Key duties

The core continuing duties are registration or licensing plus the AML/ATF obligations in the Proceeds of Crime (AML/ATF) Regulations 2008. Non-licensed AML/ATF regulated financial institutions and regulated non-financial businesses or professions must apply for and maintain registration with the relevant supervisory authority, subject to fit and proper testing.

AML/ATF obligations

• Customer due diligence: Identify and verify customers and beneficial owners, understand ownership and control structures, and identify the natural person acting as chief executive for legal entities.
• Ongoing monitoring: Conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships and transactions.
• Enhanced due diligence: Apply enhanced due diligence, including for politically exposed persons, and simplified due diligence only where permitted.
• Internal controls: Keep records, maintain systems and internal reporting procedures, provide an independent audit function, and train relevant staff.
• Officers: Appoint a Compliance Officer and a Reporting Officer to carry out the functions specified in the Regulations.
• Suspicious activity reporting: Promptly disclose knowledge or suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing to the Financial Intelligence Agency, and avoid tipping off anyone other than the FIA.

Higher-risk jurisdictions

A recurring stream of Ministerial Advisories, issued under the POCA Regulations, directs relevant persons under Regulation 4 (regulated financial institutions, independent professionals, casino operators, FIA-registered dealers in high value goods, and real estate brokers and agents) to apply enhanced customer due diligence on a risk-sensitive basis under Regulation 11(1)(aa) and (ab) to business connected with FATF-identified higher-risk jurisdictions. Each advisory replaces the previous one, lists the current call-for-action and increased-monitoring jurisdictions, and requires additional measures under the International Sanctions Regulations 2013 for jurisdictions also subject to sanctions.

CSP licensing and filings

• Licence application: Applicants must submit Form CSP 1 with prescribed fees, a detailed business plan under section 10(2), and Questionnaires for Shareholder Controllers and Senior Executives; AML/ATF policies and procedures must accompany the application.
• Annual Certificate of Compliance: Each licensed CSP must deliver an annual certificate of compliance confirming adherence to the minimum licensing criteria and Codes of Practice; the 2014 consultation on the Code notes delivery is due within four months of the financial year end under section 46(2).
• Beneficial ownership records: Under the draft Corporate Service Provider (Beneficial Owner) Regulations 2012, CSPs must take reasonable steps to ascertain all beneficial owners of a client and maintain a written record at their registered address.
• Notification of developments: Licensees must proactively notify the BMA of material developments such as changes in key personnel, systems and controls, criminal proceedings, cybersecurity incidents, and material business changes.
• Permission for certain services: The Corporate Service Provider Business Amendment Act 2017 requires limited licensees to obtain the BMA's prior permission before forming a company or partnership, or altering a register of members by transfer or issue of shares or interests, unless expressly not required by law.

Sources: Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2008 · Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2008 · AML-ATF Ministerial Advisory 3/2025: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (2025-12-16) · Guidance Notes for AML/ATF Regulated Financial Institutions on Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing 2023 (Bermuda Monetary Authority) Notice 2023 · AML/ATF Ministerial Advisory 2/2025: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2025-07-17) · AML-ATF Ministerial Advisory 3/2024: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2024-12-02) · AML-ATF Ministerial Advisory 2/2024: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2024-07-08) · AML-ATF Ministerial Advisory 1/2024: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2024-03-27) · AML/ATF Ministerial Advisory 2/2022: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2022-07-12) · AML-ATF Ministerial Advisory 1/2022: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2022-04-11) · AML-ATF Ministerial Advisory 3/2021: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2021-11-18) · AML/ATF Ministerial Advisory 1/2021: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2021-03-25) · AML/ATF Ministerial Advisory 2/2020: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2020-11-20) · AML/ATF Ministerial Advisory 2/2019: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2019-08-19) · AML/ATF Ministerial Advisory 1/2019: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing controls in higher risk jurisdictions (2019-02-22) · CSP Business Act 2012 - Guidance Notes: Information for Prospective Applicants (March 2020) · Corporate Service Provider Business Amendment Act 2017 · Notice - Code of Practice Consultation Paper (2014-09-15) · Corporate Service Providers Guidance Notes (December 2012) · Notice - Corporate Service Provider (Beneficial Owner) Regulations 2012 (2012-12-21) · General Guidance Notes for AML/ATF Regulated Financial Institutions on AML/ATF (July 2021) · AML-ATF Ministerial Advisory 2/2026: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (2026-07-24)

Exemptions and carve-outs

The Corporate Service Provider Business Exemption Order 2015, made under the Corporate Service Provider Business Act 2012, exempts specified categories of persons from the requirement to hold a CSP licence, subject to any conditions the BMA imposes.

• Fund administration providers: Persons licensed under the Fund Administration Provider Business Act 2019 providing registrar and transfer services connected to their fund administration business.
• Intra-group providers: Companies carrying on CSP business only for members of their own company group.
• Sole director service companies: Companies whose CSP activity is limited to providing director services, owned by a single shareholder controller who is the sole employee providing those services.
• Insurance managers: Insurance managers providing CSP business only to licensed insurers, competent authority licensed insurers, or parent companies of insurers licensed under the Insurance Act 1978.
• Annual declaration: A specified person whose exemption is subject to conditions must file an annual declaration with the BMA on or before 31 March each year confirming continued qualification and compliance.

For dealers in high value goods, the instruments operate as a threshold rather than a blanket exemption: they fall within the AML/ATF regime only where they accept cash payments of BMD 7,500 or more, and must be registered with the Registrar to be in scope.

Sources: Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2008 · Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2008 · Corporate Service Provider Business Exemption Order 2015

Enforcement and penalties

The Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2008 gives competent authorities a broad range of enforcement tools, supported by warning and decision notice procedures and a right of appeal to an appeal tribunal and ultimately the Supreme Court.

• Enforcement tools: Civil penalties, directives, restriction or revocation of licence, public censure, prohibition orders, injunctions, and petitions for winding up or dissolution.

AML/ATF penalty amounts

The CSP sector-specific guidance describes the penalties attaching to non-compliance with the underlying Regulations. The summaries here give differing civil penalty ceilings, so the figures should be treated with caution.

• Criminal penalties: The 2021 and 2022 CSP annexes state fines up to $50,000 on summary conviction, or up to $750,000 and/or two years' imprisonment on indictment.
• BMA civil penalties: The 2021 and 2022 CSP annexes cite civil penalties up to $10,000,000 per failure under Section 20 of the POCA SEA; a separate CSP annex instead states civil penalties of up to $500,000 per contravention under the SEA Act 2008.

CSP-specific offences

• Unlicensed business: Carrying on Corporate Service Business without a licence is an offence under Section 8 of the Corporate Service Provider Business Act 2012.
• Certificate of compliance: Failure to submit the annual Certificate of Compliance, or to provide required particulars, is a statutory offence; the 2014 Code consultation notes a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per week of default under section 46(2).
• Licence revocation: The BMA may revoke a CSP licence under Section 17 for breach of the Minimum Criteria in Schedule 1.
• Beneficial owner notification: Under the draft Corporate Service Provider (Beneficial Owner) Regulations 2012, a beneficial owner's failure to notify a change within 28 days is an offence carrying a fine of up to $10,000.

Enforcement examples

• Conyers Corporate Services: Civil penalties totalling $981,000 in 2022 for historic AML/ATF and CSPB Act compliance failures.
• Meritus Trust Company: Civil penalties of $600,000 in 2024 for breaches of the AML/ATF Regulations, the Trusts Act and the CSPB Act.
• Phoenix Law Chambers: CSP licence revoked in 2020 under Section 17 following breach of the Minimum Criteria.
• Mangrove Corporate Services: Public warning issued in 2019 that the entity was unlicensed to conduct Corporate Service Business.

Sources: Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2008 · Guidance Notes for AML/ATF Regulated Financial Institutions 2022 - Annex VI: Sector-Specific Guidance Notes (SSGN) for Corporate Service Provider (CSP) Business · Annex VI - Sector-Specific Guidance Notes for Corporate Service Provider Business · Notice - Code of Practice Consultation Paper (2014-09-15) · Notice - Corporate Service Provider (Beneficial Owner) Regulations 2012 (2012-12-21) · Civil Penalties - Meritus Trust Company Limited (2024-12-30) · Civil Penalties - Conyers Corporate Services Limited (2022-05-02) · Revocation of Licence - Phoenix Law Chambers (2020-12-22) · Warning - Mangrove Corporate Services Limited (2019-04-16) · AML/ATF Sectoral Guidance Notes for CSPs (2021) - Annex VI