On 1^st of September 2022, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles has issued its final Business Continuity Plan (‘BCP’) guidelines aiming to provide guidance to the regulated entities and licensees in creating and submitting their BCP to the FSA, as and when required.

The BCP guidelines are applicable to all licensees listed below and as per their respective legislation:

• All licensees under the International Corporate Service Providers Act, 2003
• Insurance Companies under the Insurance Act, 2008
• Insurance Brokers under the Insurance Act, 2008
• All licensees under the Securities Act, 2007
• Fund Administrator under the Mutual Fund and Hedge Fund Act, 2008

The FSA notes that licensees should incorporate business continuity considerations into their business process development to proactively mitigate the risk of service disruptions. In creating an effective BCP, the licensees should assume a reduced demand for services during any disruption and identify means to counteract the identified items or any other situations that may arise.

In addition, the FSA understands that each firm has its own organisational and legal structure thus, significant differences might arise when considering the nature and scope of the business activities conducted. In this respect, the FSA notes that the licensees might be impacted differently depending on their location and nature of their business, hence, there could be various approaches to business continuity planning. Furthermore, the implementation and practical aspect may evolve over time depending on various situations that may arise.

Further to the above, the FSA considers the below as key points in business continuity planning for the consideration of the licensees:

• Planning, testing, and reviewing;
• Focusing on critical operations;
• Considering special circumstance under large scale disruptions;
• Coordinating business continuity planning with outside parties;
• Exerting strong leadership.

The BCP Guidelines include amongst others, guidance on the structure and components of the BCP, risk assessment, business impact analysis, responsibilities of the board of directors / senior management and relevant appendices advising on the key components to be included in the BCP and other important considerations.

Our team of experts can assist you in implementing and updating your Business Continuity Plan according to the latest regulatory updates.

CySEC announced on the 21^st of July 2022, additional supervisory actions focusing on regulatory compliance and investor protection. More specifically, has warned Cyprus Investments Firms (CIFs) trading in contracts for difference (CFDs) that they must take immediate action to improve their practices, or they shall face enforcement action. Where repeated weaknesses and/or a failure to implement remedial measures is detected, CySEC will impose “significantly higher” fines or proceed with suspending or revoking the respective CIF licence.

Under new rules, CySEC will compel firms that receive 20 or more complaints to appoint an internal auditor to undertake an investigation and submit a report. Additional controls are also being introduced to examine the organisational structures of new applicants. Specific emphasis will be placed on whether they can adequately carry out and monitor cross-border activities. CySEC is also focusing attention on applicants’ advertising campaigns, warning that it will not tolerate aggressive marketing behaviour or the provision of misleading information to investors, or any other abusive practices.

Key acquisitions by CySEC include a specialised system that analyses and monitors CIF online marketing materials and social media activities. The system can detect all related mentions from any source internationally and carry out real-time monitoring with an instant alert trigger for any related keyword combination.

The FiveComply team of experts can assist you to meet your ongoing CySEC obligations and stay compliant.

Following its June 2021 plenary meeting, the Financial Action Task Force (‘FATF’) has confirmed that an onsite inspection will be conducted in Mauritius in order to assess the implemented AML/CFT measures / reforms and the progress made in order to decide whether Mauritius shall be removed from the FATF Grey list. When FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring (i.e. on the FATF Grey list), it means that this country is committed to resolve any identified strategic deficiencies within an agreed timeframe.

The FATF announcement is considered as a very positive step towards the removal of Mauritius from the FATF Grey list, as the on-site inspection is considered as one of the final stages taken by FATF in its decision-making process.

For Mauritius, the removal from the FATF list, means the initiation of the procedure to exit the European Commission high-risk third countries’ list for AML/CFT, as well. If successful, Mauritius bank account opening will be made easier and credibility for financial institutions and companies will be regained.

Our team at FiveComply will keep you updated and remains at your disposal for any matters you would like to discuss.

Further to the issuance of Circular C451, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (‘CySEC’) wishes to inform CIFs that, a new version of the Form RBSF-CIF Version 4 (‘the Form’) needs to be completed for the annual collection of various statistical information. The Form must be successfully submitted electronically via the CySEC’s Transaction Reporting System (‘TRS’) by 15:00 hrs, Friday, June 18, 2021, at the latest.

The Form must be completed, and successfully submitted to CySEC, by all CIFs that were authorised by December 31, 2020. In this respect, CIFs that were authorised by December 31, 2020, but have not made use of their authorisation must also submit the Form.

In summary, Form RBSF-CIF Version 4 requires additional information, as per the following sections:

• Section F – Governance and Ownership (two additional questions have been added under points 7.1 and 7.2);
• Section K – Products, Services and Transactions (amendments in Questions 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 – 2.4 and 3.1 and Questions 2.5 and 2.6);
• Section L – Countries and Geographical Areas (amendments in Questions 1.1 – 1.4);
• Section M – Customer Analysis (this is an entirely new section);
• Section N – Internal Policies and Procedures (this is an entirely new section);
• Section O – Geographical Analysis (this is an entirely new section).

In addition, CIFs should have in mind the following, when completing and submitting the Form:

• The Form should be named in the following format ‘Username_yyyymmdd_RBSF-CIF’. The username to be used is the CIF’s TRS credentials. The yyyymmdd in this case, will be 20201231. Future forms will have different reporting periods.
• CIFs are required to report data in Euro, rounded to the nearest unit.
• Before submitting the Form, please ensure that all validation tests that are contained in the Form (Sections A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O) at the bottom of the page and Validation Tests Worksheet) are TRUE (Green Colour).
• Please use the latest version of the Form i.e. Version 4.
• Instructions on the completion of the Form can be found in the ‘Instructions’ Worksheet of the Form.

Our Team at FiveComply remains at your disposal for any assistance that you may require in relation to the above.