Procedure - Issuing Notices of Decisions to Declined Applicants (2004)

Summary

This is a 2004 internal procedure document published by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) describing how it issues 'Notices of Decisions' when it declines an application for a licence, or an application by a person to act as a director, shareholder, manager, senior officer or controller of a licensee. It explains that in such cases no Warning Notice is sent; instead, a Notice of Decision is issued to explain the reasons for the refusal, in the interest of transparency and fairness under the Monetary Authority Law.

• Required content: A Notice of Decision must be in writing, stating the decision, the reasons, and the effective date.
• Exceptions to disclosing reasons: CIMA may withhold its reasons in exceptional circumstances, e.g. legal privilege, court-ordered non-disclosure, AML/CFT suspicions, confidential regulatory/law enforcement information, or national security or public interest.
• Board approval: Any decision not to disclose reasons must be approved by CIMA's Board.
• Recipients: The notice is sent to the applicant, the licensee/proposed licensee, and any person acting for them.
• Finality and appeal: The notice is final subject to any statutory right of reconsideration or appeal.
• Appendix: A sample Notice of Decision template is attached as an appendix.

This document mainly describes CIMA's internal administrative practice rather than imposing ongoing compliance obligations on regulated entities. It is informational for applicants and licensees in that it explains what they can expect to receive and the finality/appeal rights attached to a declined application, but it does not itself require action by regulated entities within a set timeframe.

Key obligations

• CIMA will issue a written Notice of Decision to an applicant whose licence application (or application to act as director, shareholder, manager, senior officer or controller of a licensee) has been declined, stating the decision, reasons, and effective date.
• CIMA will send the Notice of Decision to the applicant, the licensee/proposed licensee, and any person acting for the licensee/applicant.
• Where CIMA determines it is inappropriate or unable to disclose reasons for a decision, that non-disclosure decision must be approved by CIMA's Board.
• A Notice of Decision is treated as final, subject to any statutory right to apply for reconsideration or appeal.

Applies to

applicants for a licence, persons applying to act as director, shareholder, manager, senior officer or controller of a licensee, licensees/proposed licensees