Decision Notice - Securities Registration Cancelled for VIA Asset Management (2023-10-20)

Summary

This is a Decision Notice published by CIMA disclosing that it has cancelled the securities registration of VIA Asset Management Limited (Reg. #1601526) under the Securities Investment Business Act. The notice is an extract sent to the registrant's ultimate shareholder and lists numerous breaches of the Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations that led to the cancellation, effective 17 October 2023.

• Securities Investment Business Act breaches: Failure to file de-registration details, failure to file annual declarations for 2022 and 2023, failure to pay prescribed annual fees for 2022 and 2023, and failure to maintain the required minimum number of directors.
• AML/CFT/CPF and Sanctions breaches: Multiple failures including no internal audit policy/plan, inadequate risk assessments of customers, inadequate sanctions screening and asset-freezing procedures, no ongoing monitoring procedures, inadequate PEP identification systems, and inability to produce customer due diligence records on request.
• Companies Act issue: Reason to believe the registrant also breached section 50(1) of the Companies Act (2023 Revision) for failing to have a registered office.
• Action taken: CIMA cancelled the registrant's Securities-Registered Person status under section 17(2A)(a) of the Act, on the grounds (section 17(2)(a) and (c)) that the registrant appeared unable to meet its obligations as they fall due and had contravened the Act and AMLRs.

This notice is informational and specific to VIA Asset Management Limited; it does not create new general obligations for other regulated entities, though it illustrates the compliance failures CIMA treats as grounds for cancellation. The registrant retains a right of appeal to the Cayman Islands court under section 22 of the Act.

Applies to

Securities Registered Persons, securities investment business licensees/registrants

Deadlines

• 17 October 2023: Effective date of the Authority's decision to cancel the registrant's securities registration.