Financial Services (Administrative Penalties) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025

Summary

This BVI Statutory Instrument amends the Financial Services (Administrative Penalties) Regulations to adjust several administrative penalty provisions, including the limitation period for issuing penalty notices and the fixed penalty amounts for late filings and other contraventions by licensees.

• Regulation 4(6): Removes a cross reference so the rule now applies to a licensee without the previous carve out linked to subsection (7).
• Regulation 5A(3): Corrects an internal cross reference, changing it from Regulation 8(6) to regulation 8(4).
• Regulation 7(1) limitation period: Extends the limitation period for the Commission to act from 2 years to 3 years.
• Regulation 7(4) new provision: Clarifies that once the Commission issues a proposed penalty notice within the limitation period, the limitation period stops running, regardless of whether a penalty is ultimately imposed.
• Schedule 1 item 3 (late filing or notification): Replaces the tiered penalty scale for late filing or notification with new amounts ranging from $200 to $1,000 for 1 to 30 business days late, up to a $30,000 fixed penalty plus $100 per additional business day for filings 181 or more business days late.
• Schedule 1 item 10 (other contravention): Revises the penalty for any other contravention not otherwise categorised to a range of $500 to $20,000.

The Regulations do not take effect immediately; commencement is deferred to a date the Minister will later appoint by Notice published in the Gazette.

Key obligations

• Licensees must comply with the revised late filing and notification penalty scale once in force, with penalties escalating from $200 to $1,000 for 1 to 30 business days late up to a $30,000 fixed penalty plus $100 per additional business day for filings 181 or more business days late.
• Licensees or other persons committing any contravention not otherwise categorised are subject to a penalty of $500 to $20,000 once the amendment is in force.

Applies to

licensees regulated under the Financial Services Commission Act

Deadlines

• date to be appointed by the Minister by Notice in the Gazette: Commencement date of these amending Regulations, not yet fixed at time of gazetting

Related documents

• This document is made under Financial Services Commission Act (Revised Edition 2020)