Licensing and Supervisory Committee, Guidelines and Operating Procedures (Revised 31 August 2012)

Summary

This is an internal governance and procedures manual for the BVI Financial Services Commission's Licensing and Supervisory Committee (LSC), the body that exercises the Commission's licensing and supervisory functions under the Financial Services Commission Act. It sets out how the LSC is constituted, how it takes decisions, how authority is delegated to Commission staff, and how complaints and queries from licensees are handled. It is published mainly for information so that licensees and applicants can understand how the LSC operates, rather than to impose new duties directly on the industry.

• Committee governance: Covers LSC membership, co-opting of officers, chairmanship, meeting procedures, quorum, use of electronic media, and voting rules.
• Guiding principles and conduct: Sets out principles of confidentiality, consistency, disclosure, transparency, due process and integrity, plus a code of conduct for LSC members covering use of official information, gifts, media contact and conflicts of interest.
• Licensing and supervisory process: Describes how applications and other matters are prepared, submitted and considered by the LSC, including timeframes for directors submitting papers and treatment of late or walk-in documents.
• Powers and decision-making: Details LSC and Secretariat powers, record-keeping obligations, power to recall documents, taking decisions (including by round robin), refusing approvals, and communicating and rectifying LSC decisions.
• Delegation of authority: Explains the scheme for delegating specific licensing and supervisory decisions to Commission officers, including notice, duration, extension and termination of delegated authority.
• Complaints and public interest matters: Covers handling of complaints (including anonymous and whistleblower complaints), maintenance of a Register of Complaints, mediation of disputes, publication of licensee names, and establishment of a regulatory watch list.

Because this document governs the Commission's own internal committee processes, it creates few direct, ongoing compliance obligations for licensees themselves; where it affects licensees, it is mainly through how their applications, notifications, queries and complaints will be processed by the LSC and its Secretariat.

Key obligations

• Directors of regulatory Divisions must submit memoranda and other papers to the LSC within the period specified in the Guidelines
• The LSC Secretariat must maintain a Register of Complaints and a Register of LSC Decisions (Schedule 4)
• Notifications required to be given to the Commission under the FSCA or financial services legislation are treated as validly made only if made to or received by the Division to which the subject matter relates
• Any matter required to be published by the Commission in the Gazette may also be published on the Commission's website, with the relevant Division arranging transmission to the Secretary for authorisation
• LSC Secretariat staff and officers must act within the bounds of delegated authority and record decisions and rectifications in accordance with the prescribed forms in Schedules 2 and 3

Applies to

licensees, regulated persons, applicants for licences, LSC Secretariat and Commission staff

Related documents

• Guidelines and Operating Procedures of the LSC (Consolidated 2015) replaces this document