Financial Investigation Agency (Amendment) Act, 2024

Summary

This Act amends the BVI Financial Investigation Agency Act, 2020 to expand the Agency's supervisory and enforcement powers over DNFBPs (designated non-financial businesses and professions) and non-profit organisations (NPOs) at risk of terrorist financing abuse, and to enable disclosures to foreign financial investigation agencies. It comes into force on a date to be appointed by the Minister via Gazette notice.

• Registration requirement: No person may carry on business as a DNFBP in or from the Virgin Islands without being registered with the Agency; unregistered operation is an offence and grounds for enforcement action, including public statements naming the person.
• NPO supervision: The Agency must identify and assess NPOs at risk of terrorist financing abuse, notify NPOs when they become subject to supervision, and remove supervision (with notice) when risk no longer applies.
• Change of control approval: DNFBPs and supervised NPOs must obtain the Agency's prior written approval before changing directors, senior officers, or persons with significant or controlling interests, and must notify the Agency within fourteen days of any such change.
• Enhanced enforcement powers: The Agency may deregister DNFBPs, direct licensing bodies to cancel or suspend licences (suspension up to 30 days, extendable by another 30 days in the public interest), require payment of enforcement costs, and issue public statements about enforcement action (generally with three days' notice, unless urgency justifies shorter or no notice).
• Inspection powers: The Agency may inspect premises, assets, and documents of DNFBPs and NPOs (including subsidiaries) and question their officers and staff, generally with reasonable notice but without notice where circumstances justify.
• Duty to cooperate: Financial institutions, DNFBPs, NPOs and other persons subject to the Act must cooperate with the Agency, including providing information and documents; failure to cooperate is an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding twenty thousand dollars.
• Returns requirement: DNFBPs and NPOs under the Agency's supervision may be required by Gazette Order to submit returns on directors/senior officers/controllers, risk assessments, and other business matters, and must ensure such returns are accurate and complete; non-compliance attracts administrative penalties prescribed in the Order.
• Foreign disclosures: The Agency may disclose information to a foreign financial investigation agency for specified purposes, subject to conditions it may impose.

The amendments also clarify enforcement procedures (e.g. false or misleading information to the Agency is now a ground for enforcement action) and extend certain existing financial-institution provisions in Schedule 1 to cover DNFBPs and NPOs as well.

Key obligations

• A person must not carry on business as a DNFBP without being registered with the Agency under section 5C(3)
• A DNFBP or supervised NPO must obtain the Agency's prior written approval before changing directors, senior officers, or persons with significant/controlling interests
• A DNFBP must notify the Agency within fourteen days after a change in directorship, senior officer position, or significant/controlling interest occurs
• Financial institutions, DNFBPs, NPOs and other persons subject to the Act must cooperate with the Agency, including providing information, documents and other material requested
• DNFBPs and NPOs subject to a Gazette Order under section 5R must prepare and submit returns in the prescribed form and within the prescribed timeframe, and must ensure the information provided is accurate and complete
• A DNFBP or NPO must comply with any requirement or order made by the Agency under the Act
• Persons must not provide the Agency with false, inaccurate or misleading information

Applies to

DNFBPs (designated non-financial businesses and professions), NPOs (non-profit organisations), financial institutions, foreign financial investigation agencies (as counterparties)

Deadlines

• fourteen days after the date of occurrence of the change: A DNFBP must notify the Agency of a change in directors, senior officers, or persons holding significant/controlling interest
• such date as the Minister may, by Notice published in the Gazette, appoint: Commencement date of the Act
• three days written notice: Notice period the Agency must generally give before issuing a public statement about enforcement action against a DNFBP, NPO or other person (may be shortened or waived in urgent public-interest cases)
• not exceeding thirty days: Maximum initial period the Agency may specify for suspension of a person's licence, registration, approval, authorisation or establishment as a result of enforcement action (extendable by a further period not exceeding thirty days)

Related documents

• This document amends Financial Investigation Agency Act (Revised Edition 2020)