Financial Services (Exceptional Circumstances) Order, 2020 (SI 2020 No. 32)

Summary

This Order, made under the Financial Services (Exceptional Circumstances) Act, 2020, formally declares the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic to be an exceptional circumstance justifying special measures for the conduct, licensing, regulation and supervision of financial services business in and from the Virgin Islands. It brings specified emergency provisions of that Act into force and applies them to the financial services sector for a defined period.

• Declaration: The Minister declares the COVID-19 outbreak an exceptional circumstance under section 3(1)(b) of the Financial Services (Exceptional Circumstances) Act, 2020.
• Provisions activated: Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 (with a modification), 15, 16, 18 and 19 of the Act are applied to all licensees and other persons subject to financial services legislation.
• Duration: The Order is deemed to have taken effect on 30 March 2020 and remains in force until 30 April 2020, except that the Financial Services Complaints Tribunal continues to operate beyond that expiry under section 20(2) and (3) of the Act.

The Order itself does not spell out the substantive content of the activated sections (for example any specific relief, extensions or modified procedures); readers needing to know exactly what obligations or relief those sections provide should consult the underlying Financial Services (Exceptional Circumstances) Act, 2020 directly.

Key obligations

• Licensees and other persons subject to financial services legislation become subject to sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19 of the Financial Services (Exceptional Circumstances) Act, 2020 from 30 March 2020.

Applies to

licensees, other persons subject to financial services legislation in the Virgin Islands

Deadlines

• 30th day of March, 2020: Effective date from which the Order, and the specified sections of the Act, are deemed to have come into force.
• 30th day of April, 2020: Date on which the Order expires (subject to the continued operation of the Financial Services Complaints Tribunal).