Guidance Notes for the Completion of the Money Services Business Survey/Money Services Business Quarterly Return Form (March 2011)

Summary

This is a Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) guidance document explaining how licensed Money Services Businesses (MSBs) should complete the Money Services Business Survey / Quarterly Return Form. It is not itself a law but a line-by-line explanatory guide to the form.

• Form sections covered: The cover sheet, financial summary (assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses), balance sheet schedules, income statement, and remittance/fee schedules that MSBs must submit to CIMA.
• Large Transaction Report (Appendix 1): Captures details on senders and recipients of single or aggregate transactions equal to or exceeding US$3,500.

The document confirms that under the Money Services Law, every licence holder must furnish returns to CIMA in the form and at the times CIMA specifies.

• Filing frequency and deadline: The quarterly return form must be completed on a calendar-year quarterly basis and submitted within 30 calendar days of the reporting date.
• Transaction fee remittance: Transaction fees collected on remittances sent outside the Cayman Islands (per Section 30A(2) of the Money Services Law) must be remitted to CIMA quarterly, with cheques payable to the Cayman Islands Government, also within 30 days of the reporting date.
• Reporting basis: Financial data must be reported in US dollars (to the nearest thousand) using accrual accounting.

Overall, the notes function as a technical/reference guide for compliance staff at MSBs preparing these periodic filings, clarifying definitions of balance-sheet and income-statement line items and how to complete the large-transaction reporting schedule, rather than creating new substantive obligations beyond those already established by the Money Services Law and the reporting form itself.

Key obligations

• MSB licence holders must complete and submit the Money Services Business Quarterly Return Form to CIMA on a quarterly basis (calendar year quarters).
• The completed quarterly return must be submitted to CIMA within 30 calendar days of the reporting date.
• Transaction fees collected from remittances sent outside the Cayman Islands (under Section 30A(2) of the Money Services Law) must be remitted to CIMA quarterly, by cheque payable to the Cayman Islands Government, within 30 calendar days of the reporting date.
• Financial information on the return must be reported in US dollars to the nearest thousand, using the accrual accounting method and the exchange rate prevailing at the reporting date.
• MSBs must complete a Large Transaction Report (Appendix 1) for each sender with single or aggregate transactions equal to or exceeding US$3,500, capturing sender identification, address, employment, source of funds, and recipient/transaction details.

Applies to

Money Services Businesses, holders of a licence under the Money Services Law

Deadlines

• within 30 calendar days of the reporting date: Deadline for submitting the completed Money Services Business Quarterly Return Form to CIMA
• within 30 calendar days of the reporting date: Deadline for remitting collected transaction fees (on overseas remittances) to the Cayman Islands Government via CIMA