Financing and Money Services (Amendment) Act, 2020

Summary

This Act amends the Financing and Money Services Act, 2009 to introduce a new transaction levy on outbound money transmission services and to increase penalties for unlicensed financing or money services business. It applies to Class A licensees under the Financing and Money Services Act who provide money transmission services.

• Transaction levy: Class A licensees must collect a levy of 7% of the gross amount transmitted, but only for money being transmitted outside the Virgin Islands.
• Remittance to Commission: Levies collected must be paid over to the Commission monthly, or on such other periodic basis as the Commission may determine by Gazette notice.
• Miscellaneous Purposes Fund: The Commission must pay the levy into a new miscellaneous purposes fund at quarterly intervals; the fund's proceeds are allocated per Schedule 3 (20% each to seniors' programmes, educational programmes, agriculture, fishing, and land bank/first time home owner programmes).
• Ministerial amendment power: The Minister may amend the levy rate or the Schedule 3 allocations by Order published in the Gazette, subject to affirmative resolution of the House of Assembly.
• Enforcement for non compliance: Failure by a licensee to collect or remit the levy may result in an administrative penalty under category 10 (Other contraventions) of Schedule 1 of the Financial Services (Administrative Penalties) Regulations.
• Increased penalties for unlicensed business: Schedule 2 of the principal Act is amended so that a person carrying on financing business or money services business without a licence faces a fine of $75,000 or, alternatively, a fine of $60,000 or imprisonment for three years, or both.

The Act comes into force on a date to be appointed by the Minister by Notice in the Gazette; no commencement date is stated in this text.

Key obligations

• Class A licensees must collect, at the time of providing the service, a transaction levy of 7% of the gross amount being transmitted, for money transmission services sending money outside the Virgin Islands.
• Class A licensees must pay the transaction levy collected to the Commission on a monthly basis, or on such other periodic basis as the Commission determines by Gazette notice.
• The Commission must pay the transaction levy collected into the miscellaneous purposes fund at quarterly intervals, allocated according to the percentages in Schedule 3.

Applies to

Class A licensees, financing business operators, money services business operators

Deadlines

• monthly: Class A licensees must pay collected transaction levy to the Commission on a monthly basis (or other periodic basis set by Commission notice).
• quarterly intervals: The Commission must pay the transaction levy into the miscellaneous purposes fund at quarterly intervals.
• date to be appointed by Minister by Gazette Notice: Commencement of the Act.

Related documents

• This document amends Financing and Money Services Act (Revised 2020)