Money Services Business Guidelines

Summary

These are AML/CFT guidelines issued by the BVI Financial Services Commission for Money Services Businesses (MSBs), such as remittance and money transmission providers. They explain licensing requirements under the Financing and Money Services Act 2009 and set out how MSBs should implement customer due diligence, risk management, staffing and reporting obligations under the Anti-money Laundering Regulations 2008 (AMLR) and the AML/TF Code of Practice 2008.

• Licensing: Entities providing money services business in the Virgin Islands must be duly licensed by the Commission before operating.
• Customer due diligence: MSBs must apply CDD, simplified CDD or enhanced CDD depending on risk when establishing business relationships or executing one-off transactions.
• Risk-based approach: MSBs must assess and manage product/service, transaction, customer, geographic and agent/distribution risk, with senior management oversight.
• Suspicious activity reporting: MSBs must identify indicators of suspicious activity and report them to the Financial Investigation Agency, with a designated MLRO overseeing compliance.
• Record keeping: MSBs must maintain records of identification, verification, transactions and SAR/STR reports for the periods required by the AMLR.
• Staffing and agents: MSBs must vet and train staff and agents, monitor agents' activities, and ensure agents are trained and aware of AML/CFT obligations.
• Internal controls: MSBs must establish written internal reporting procedures and internal control systems to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Guidelines are explanatory in nature and supplement, rather than replace, the binding legal requirements of the AMLR, the AML/TF Code of Practice, the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act 1997, and related terrorism financing orders. MSBs remain obligated to comply with those underlying laws directly.

Key obligations

• MSBs must be licensed by the Commission before conducting money services business.
• MSBs must perform customer due diligence (CDD), and apply simplified or enhanced CDD depending on assessed risk, when entering business relationships or one-off transactions.
• MSBs must appoint a money laundering reporting officer (MLRO) to ensure AML/CFT compliance and liaise with the Financial Investigation Agency.
• MSBs must identify and report suspicious activity to the Financial Investigation Agency.
• MSBs must maintain records of identification, verification and transactions, and retain them for the required retention period.
• MSBs must vet and train staff and agents, and monitor agents to address systemic AML/CFT risks.
• MSBs must establish written internal reporting procedures and internal controls for detecting and preventing ML/TF.

Applies to

Money services businesses (MSBs), remittance service providers, money transmission services