Drug Trafficking Offences (Amendment) Act, 2023

Summary

This Act amends the BVI Drug Trafficking Offences Act, 2020 Revised Edition. It substantially increases the criminal penalties (fines and imprisonment terms) for several drug trafficking and drug money laundering offences, adds a defence for information sharing under AML/CFT group-wide programmes, and inserts an entirely new mechanism allowing courts to issue account monitoring orders against financial institutions.

• Increased penalties: Sections 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the principal Act are amended to raise the fines and, in some cases, minimum and maximum prison terms for drug trafficking, drug money laundering and related offences.
• New defence: A new subsection (6A) to section 37 provides that a person does not commit a tipping-off/disclosure offence if the disclosure was made in accordance with information sharing obligations under a financial group's AML/CFT group-wide programme under section 53A of the AML/CFT Code of Practice.
• Account monitoring orders: New section 39A allows a court, on application by the Financial Investigation Agency or a police officer, to order a financial institution to provide specified account information for drug trafficking or drug money laundering investigations; such orders cannot exceed 90 days and override confidentiality restrictions.
• Section 47 fine increases: The fines in section 47(5) are increased from $10,000 to $50,000 (paragraph (a)) and from $25,000 to $100,000 (paragraph (b)).

The Act itself is largely a legislative amendment with no new recurring compliance filing obligations for regulated entities, other than the obligation of financial institutions to comply with any account monitoring order a court may issue against them.

Key obligations

• A financial institution that is the subject of a court-issued account monitoring order under new section 39A must provide the specified account information to the Financial Investigation Agency or a police officer for up to 90 days as ordered.
• A financial institution served with an account monitoring order must comply notwithstanding any otherwise applicable restriction on disclosure of information.

Applies to

financial institutions (relevant persons carrying on relevant business under the Anti-money Laundering Regulations), persons subject to prosecution under the Drug Trafficking Offences Act

Deadlines

• such date as the Minister may by Notice published in the Gazette appoint: Commencement date of the Act
• 90 days beginning with the day the order is made: Maximum period that may be specified in an account monitoring order under new section 39A

Related documents

• This document amends Drug Trafficking Offences Act (Revised Edition 2020)