BVI–Isle of Man Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information

Summary

This is a bilateral Competent Authority Agreement between the British Virgin Islands and the Isle of Man implementing automatic exchange of financial account information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), pursuant to Article 8 of the underlying BVI-Isle of Man Tax Information Exchange Agreement. It sets out what account information BVI Reporting Financial Institutions' data must cover, how and when the BVI Competent Authority (the ITA) will exchange it with the Isle of Man, and the confidentiality, compliance and enforcement mechanics governing that exchange.

• Scope: Applies to British Virgin Islands Financial Institutions that are Reporting Financial Institutions maintaining Isle of Man Reportable Accounts (accounts held by Isle of Man resident individuals/entities or passive NFEs with Isle of Man controlling persons).
• Information exchanged: Name, address, TIN, date and place of birth of reportable account holders/controlling persons, account number, identity of the reporting institution, account balance or value, and income/gross proceeds details for custodial, depository and other accounts.
• Exchange mechanics: The BVI Competent Authority automatically and annually exchanges the specified information with the Isle of Man Competent Authority using the CRS XML schema.
• Compliance and enforcement: Each Competent Authority must notify the other of suspected reporting errors or non-compliance by a Reporting Financial Institution, and the BVI Competent Authority must take appropriate domestic law measures to address them.
• Confidentiality and safeguards: Exchanged information remains subject to TIEA confidentiality rules and any data protection safeguards specified by the BVI Competent Authority; breaches must be reported immediately.
• Suspension and termination: Either Competent Authority may suspend exchange immediately for significant non-compliance, or terminate the Agreement on notice, with a 12-month effective period; previously exchanged information remains confidential after termination.

The Agreement itself binds only the two Competent Authorities, but it operationalises reporting and due diligence obligations that BVI financial institutions must already meet under CRS-implementing domestic law, since the information exchanged is drawn from those institutions' CRS compliance.

Key obligations

• The BVI Competent Authority must annually exchange with the Isle of Man Competent Authority the specified Reportable Account information obtained from BVI Reporting Financial Institutions under CRS due diligence rules.
• Information covering 2016 and all subsequent years must be exchanged within nine months after the end of the relevant calendar year.
• The BVI Competent Authority must transmit the exchanged information in the CRS schema using Extensible Markup Language.
• On receiving notice from the Isle of Man Competent Authority of suspected errors or non-compliance by a Reporting Financial Institution, the BVI Competent Authority must take all appropriate measures under domestic law to address the errors or non-compliance.
• The BVI Competent Authority must notify the Isle of Man Competent Authority that BVI has the necessary CRS-implementing laws in place, specifying effective dates for Preexisting and New Accounts and due diligence procedures, and must specify data transmission and encryption methods before exchange begins.
• Exchanged information must be kept confidential and safeguarded consistent with the TIEA and any BVI-specified data protection safeguards.
• A party suspending exchange for significant non-compliance must give written notice, and termination requires 12 months' written notice before taking effect.

Applies to

British Virgin Islands Financial Institutions, Reporting Financial Institutions

Deadlines

• within nine months after the end of the calendar year: Deadline for the BVI Competent Authority to exchange Reportable Account information with the Isle of Man Competent Authority, applicable to 2016 and all subsequent years.
• 12 months after the date of a notice of termination: Termination of the Agreement becomes effective on the first day of the month following expiry of this 12-month period.
• one month after the date of the later signature or notification on an amendment: An amendment to the Agreement becomes effective on the first day of the month following expiry of this one-month period, unless otherwise agreed.