Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Code of Practice, 2023

Summary

This is a 2023 amendment code issued by the BVI Financial Services Commission that makes wide-ranging changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Code of Practice (Revised Edition 2020). It came into force on 17 March 2023 and touches customer due diligence thresholds, trustee obligations, nominee/director disclosure duties, virtual asset service provider requirements, money services business oversight, and the administrative penalty schedule.

• Trustees: New section 28A requires trustees to disclose their trustee status to counterparties, obtain and maintain beneficial ownership information on trusts, obtain details of regulated agents and service providers to the trust, keep such information accurate and up to date, and retain it for at least 5 years after ceasing involvement with the trust. Failure is a criminal offence.
• Director/nominee shareholder services: New section 25A requires entities or professionals providing director or nominee shareholder services to disclose to the legal person the identity of any person from whom they take instructions, and to disclose the identity of a nominator, including full name, gender, address and date of birth.
• Legal person and trust due diligence: Sections 25 and 28 are amended to require obtaining proof of existence and legal form of a legal person or trust, and understanding the nature of its business and its ownership and control structure.
• NPOs: Section 4A is amended so that non-profit organisations (NPOs) must govern their activities using the best practices set out in Schedule 1, in addition to other applicable Code requirements.
• CDD transaction thresholds: Section 19 revises the monetary thresholds triggering customer due diligence for one-off transactions (now $15,000), wire transfers ($1,000, new paragraph (bc)), and other occasional transactions ($3,000), including where transactions are linked.
• Ongoing customer review: The Explanation to section 21 now requires remaining customers to be reviewed within a 4-year cycle, prioritised by risk, in addition to the existing annual review for higher-risk customers.
• Virtual asset service providers: Section 41C amendments clarify obligations of originating (rather than beneficiary) virtual asset service providers regarding originator and beneficiary information.
• Money services businesses: New section 53B requires entities or professionals conducting money services business through agents to include those agents in their AML/CFT compliance programme and monitor their compliance; failure is an offence.
• Administrative fines: Schedule 4 is amended to add new contraventions and fine amounts (ranging from $70,000 to $100,000) relating to failures to file suspicious transaction reports or to obtain, keep and provide originator/beneficiary information for virtual asset transfers.

Most other changes are technical corrections (replacing outdated statutory references, correcting typographical errors, and clarifying wording) that do not create new substantive obligations but should be reflected in compliance manuals and policies.

Key obligations

• NPOs must govern their activities using the best practices set out in Schedule 1 of the Code, in addition to other applicable requirements (section 4A(8)).
• A trustee acting on behalf of a trust must disclose his or her trustee status to any entity or professional when establishing a business relationship or one-off transaction on the trust's behalf (section 28A(1)).
• A trustee must obtain and maintain beneficial ownership information on the trust and obtain the name and address of any regulated agent or service provider to the trust (section 28A(2)-(3)).
• A trustee must keep such information accurate, up to date, and updated on a timely basis, and retain it for at least 5 years after his or her involvement with the trust ceases (section 28A(4)-(5)); non-compliance is an offence under section 27(4) of the Act.
• An entity or professional acting as director or nominee shareholder of a legal person must disclose to the legal person the identity of any instructing person or nominator, including full name, gender, address and date of birth (section 25A).
• When conducting due diligence on a legal person or trust, entities/professionals must obtain proof of existence, the legal form, and understand the ownership and control structure and nature of the business (sections 25 and 28).
• Entities/professionals must apply CDD to one-off transactions of $15,000 or above, wire transfers of $1,000 or above, and other transactions of $3,000 or above, including linked transactions (section 19).
• Remaining (non-high-risk) customers must undergo periodic due diligence review within a 4-year cycle, prioritised by risk level (Explanation to section 21).
• An entity or professional carrying on money services business through agents must include agents in its AML/CFT compliance programme and monitor their compliance (section 53B); failure is an offence under section 27(4) of the Act.
• Originating virtual asset service providers must obtain, verify and keep complete originator and beneficiary information for virtual asset transfers (section 41C amendments).

Applies to

financial institutions and other entities/professionals subject to the AML/CFT Code, trustees and trust companies, non-profit organisations (NPOs), virtual asset service providers, money services businesses and their agents, entities or professionals providing director or nominee shareholder services

Deadlines

• 17th day of March, 2023: Commencement date of the Amendment Code of Practice, 2023.
• at least 5 years after involvement with the trust ceases: Minimum retention period for trustee records on beneficial ownership and service providers under new section 28A(5).
• 4-year cycle: Periodic review period for remaining (non-high-risk) customers, prioritised based on risk, per amended Explanation to section 21.

Related documents

• This document is made under Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (Revised Edition 2020)