As a regulated business on the Isle of Man, we are licensed by the Office of Fair Trading and registered with the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority (“IOMFSA”) as a “Designated Business” under the Island’s Designated Businesses (Registration and Oversight) Act 2015.
The oversight carried out by the IOMFSA on Designated Businesses is to ensure that proper processes and procedures are in place to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. The IOMFSA has advised us that it considers debtors of loans made by other parties where we have subsequently acquired creditor rights to be our “customers” for the purposes of the Isle of Man’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Code 2019 (“the Code”). You are one of those debtors. While we understand that the IOMFSA does not, at this stage, have legal advice supporting its interpretation of the Code in this respect, and the IOMFSA’s current published AML/CFT guidelines to lending businesses are silent on the point, we have a responsibility to uphold the IOMFSA’s interpretation of the Code in the operation of our business.
What does this mean?
The Code requires businesses like ours to take steps to identify parties considered by the IOMFSA to be our “customers” – a process known as “customer due diligence” or “CDD” for short. CDD involves obtaining, documenting, and using a broad range of information relating to a customer relationship or an occasional transaction. Certain elements of this information must also be verified. The term CDD also incorporates the ongoing monitoring of the business relationship between us and customers.
What do we require from you?
We require the following documentation from you within 30 days of this letter: 1. one form of Photo ID (passport, national ID card or driving license) which has been certified*. Documents which are not certified cannot be accepted. 2. one recent (dated within the last 3 months) document showing proof of your normal residential address. This too must be certified* and in your name. The following are acceptable forms of proof of address: a) A recent gas, electricity, landline telephone or council tax bill (not a mobile telephone bill), or b) A letter from a government department, or c) A bank / building society or credit card statement, or d) A letter from a hospital or Doctor. * Certification requirements. Your certifier must be one of the following: a) A solicitor, barrister or notary public; or b) A qualified member of one of the following accountancy professional bodies, namely ICAEW, ICAS, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA.
What happens next?
Please send your certified documents to us by post at the above address within the next 30 days. We may need to contact you to request further information in order to satisfy our obligations under the Code but in the first instance it is important that you provide the documents requested in this letter. Thank you for your cooperation.
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