The Financial Services Authority will be amending its Act to exempt firms deemed as low risks from appointing compliance officers.

These five groups of licensees are;

• Companies licensed under the International Trade Zone Act

• Companies involved in hire purchase and credit sale,

• Some companies under the Companies (Special Licenses) Act

• Private/professional or public funds operating under the Mutual Find and Hedge Fund Act and

• Individuals holding a license under the Securities Act to act as representatives for a securities dealer or an investment advisor

The exemption will be made through a new regulation which will exempt these licensees from the requirements of Section 23(2) of the Financial Services Authority Act, 2013 which states;

“A licensee or company shall appoint an individual approved by the Authority as its compliance Officer who shall be appointed to oversee the compliance to relevant laws and regulations.”

Speaking to the daily newspaper, Seychelles Nation, on Tuesday 15th June, Mr. Paul Robert, the Director for Policy and Legal at FSA, explained that this ‘practice is already in existence and the amendment will serve to legitimise it.”

“Exempting low-risk licensees from this obligation is in line with international practice.”

He told Seychelles Nation that other businesses deemed as high risk are covered under the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering of the Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFT).

The policy to allow this exemption was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in its meeting on Wednesday 09th June 2021.

Source: Ministry of Finance, Trade and Blue Economy