Policy Regarding the Handling of Complaints (FSC/P010, 18 January 2010)

Summary

This is the BVI Financial Services Commission's internal policy setting out how it handles complaints made against the Commission or its employees (as opposed to complaints about licensing, supervisory or enforcement decisions, which have a separate statutory appeal route via the Financial Services Appeal Board). It applies to members of the public who are dissatisfied with the conduct of Commission staff, and sets out timelines and governance for investigating and resolving such complaints.

• Scope: Covers complaints about unprofessional or unacceptable conduct, incompetence, carelessness, unreasonable delay or biased treatment by Commission employees; excludes regulatory (licensing/supervisory) or enforcement decisions, matters under civil claim, judicial review or other legal proceedings, or matters already handled by another public body.
• How to complain: Complaints must be made in writing to the Managing Director (or, if about the Managing Director, to the Chairman of the Board), identifying the complainant and attaching supporting documentation.
• Governance: A Complaints Steering Committee (Managing Director, two Deputy Managing Directors, Director Legal and Enforcement, Director Policy Research and Statistics) oversees handling; a senior, independent employee investigates each complaint.
• Timelines: Written acknowledgement within 7 business days of receipt; a final response normally within 30 days of acknowledgement, or a holding response explaining delay if that is not possible.
• Reporting and records: Quarterly complaints reports go to the Board of Commissioners; the Commission maintains statistics and retains complaint records for two years; the policy itself is reviewed annually.

The policy does not create obligations for regulated financial services businesses; it governs the Commission's own conduct toward complainants and is informational for industry and the public as to how such complaints will be processed.

Key obligations

• The Commission must send a written acknowledgement of a complaint within 7 business days of receipt, including the name, job title and contact details of the handling officer.
• The Commission must normally provide a final response within 30 days of the acknowledgement, or issue a holding response explaining the delay and indicating a revised timeframe.
• The Commission will normally only investigate complaints raised within 12 months of the incident giving rise to the complaint.
• All complaints must be formally logged by the Secretary of the Complaints Steering Committee and investigated by a senior employee independent of the matter.
• The Commission must retain a central record of all complaints for two years from the date of the complaint.
• The Complaints Steering Committee must provide a quarterly monitoring report to the Board of Commissioners.
• The Commission must conduct an annual review of the complaints handling policy.

Applies to

members of the public, complainants against the Commission

Deadlines

• 12 months after the date of occurrence of the incident: Time limit within which the Commission will normally investigate a complaint about its conduct
• 7 business days of receipt: Deadline for the Commission to send written acknowledgement of a complaint
• 30 days of acknowledgement: Target for the Commission to issue a final response to a complaint (or a holding response if not achievable)
• quarterly: Complaints handling report presented to the Board of Commissioners
• annually: Management review of the complaints handling policy
• 2 years from the date of the complaint: Retention period for complaint records