2024 Fee Consultation (July 2023)

Summary

This is a consultation paper issued by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) on 26 July 2023, setting out proposed fee rates and administrative penalties intended to take effect from 1 January 2024. It is not yet a final rule; the Commission is seeking industry feedback before confirming the fees.

• Overall fee increase: A proposed 7.3% across-the-board increase in fees for most licensed, authorised or registered entities, reflecting inflation and rising operating costs, except for fees introduced in 2023.
• New entrants exempted: Entities authorised under the Lending, Credit and Finance Law and individuals registered under the Director Registration Regime are proposed to be excluded from the 2024 fee increase while the Commission assesses appropriate resourcing.
• Insurance fee rebalancing: A proposed rebalancing of fees within the insurance sector, requested by industry, aimed at improving competitiveness with other jurisdictions.
• Investment exchanges: A proposed increase in the regulatory fee for operating an investment exchange in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
• VASPs in AMC structures: Proposed new/updated fees for virtual asset service providers operating within an Actively Managed Certificate (AMC) structure, including separate AMC issuer and AMC cell fees.
• Penalties: Proposed continuation of existing late filing penalty tiers and inaccurate filing penalty amounts (firm-identified versus Commission-identified errors) into 2024.

The proposals affect the majority of existing licensees, registered entities, authorised entities and applicants for licensing or registration under the Supervisory Laws, and have been shared with government and industry bodies for comment. Feedback on the proposals was requested by 20 September 2023, after which the Commission intended to publish final 2024 fee rates in a feedback paper.

Key obligations

• Stakeholders wishing to comment on the proposed 2024 fee rates and penalties must submit feedback via the Consultation Hub by 20 September 2023.
• Licensees, registered entities and authorised entities should review the proposed fee bandings and rate changes applicable to their sector ahead of the fees taking effect from 1 January 2024.
• Firms remain subject to existing late filing and inaccurate filing penalty regimes, with amounts proposed to continue unchanged into 2024.

Applies to

licensees, registered entities, authorised entities, collective investment schemes, applicants for licensing or registration, banks, insurance businesses, insurance managers and insurance intermediaries, fiduciaries, administration businesses and company directors, investment businesses, lending, credit and finance providers, virtual asset service providers (including AMC issuers and cells), prescribed businesses, individuals registered under the Director Registration Regime

Deadlines

• 20 September 2023: Deadline for responses/feedback on the Consultation Paper
• 1 January 2024: Proposed date from which finalised 2024 fee rates and administrative penalties would come into force
• 1 July 2023: Stated effective date for certain annual fee tables shown in the appendix (e.g., credit and lending related annual fees)
• 1 January 2023: Effective date referenced for the existing Inaccurate Filing Penalty structure carried into the 2024 proposal