Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is the regulatory authority for all financial services business operating in and from within the BVI.

It regulates all financial services activities conducted in and from within the BVI pursuant to relevant BVI laws to ensure compliance with the relevant international standards and best conduct of business practices.

Its motto is "Vigilance, Integrity and Accountability".

Let's have a look on the content :

If we click Sanction, Enforcement action, the page is empty.

If we search the keywords "enforcement" there are only 4 articles listed with no evidence of actual sanctions.

If there are no enforcement actions, there are only 15 advisory warnings (The older advisory is dated 18/04/2006) especially on professional that are no longer licensed.

The last warning online dated 09/06/2008 wants commenting as it targets jurisdictions that may not be fully meeting the FATF standards on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering The Financing of Terrorism.
It is interesting to see the delay to implement FATF warning : on 28 February, 2008, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a public statement but the warning is dated 09/06/2008.
This is amasing to see such warning as the US Department of State concludes in the last Narcotic Control Strategy Report that "The Government of the British Virgin Islands should criminalize the financing of terrorism. The GOBVI should continue to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime by fully implementing its programs and legislation. The BVI should also extend the provisions of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations to a wider range of entities, including money remitters. The GOBVI should ensure that there are a sufficient number of regulators and examiners to exercise effective due diligence and regulation of its more than 800,000 offshore entities in a manner compliant with international standards."

There are big gaps between what assessors (FATF, FMI) state and what's actually going on in the financial centers.



FSC website