Compliance Support
This page applies to all licenceholders under the Financial Services Act 2008, except in relation to Class 1(3), Class 6 and Class 9 activities.
The Financial Services Rule Book 2016 confirms the reporting requirements for all regulated activities. For ease of reference, the Authority has summarised these requirements within a table of reporting requirements.
Every licenceholder (excluding those that only conduct class 8(1), 8(2)(b) and/or 8(3)) is required to complete an Annual Regulatory Return within four months after its financial year end in accordance with the Financial Services Rule Book 2016.
There are two forms, one for the majority of licenceholders and a short form which is solely for professional officers, licensed under Class 4 or 5.
- Annual Regulatory Return: Word document and pdf document
- Professional Officers’ Annual Regulatory Return: Word document and pdf document
If you encounter difficulties in using the Word document, please email info@iomfsa.im
The Financial Services Rule Book 2016 requires that a number of items are submitted at the same time as the Annual Regulatory Return. We have prepared "shuttle" checklists to assist compliance.
Incorporated licenceholders | Are you incorporated in the Isle of Man? | ||
Yes | No | ||
Do you hold a Class 1 licence? | Yes | Checklist 1 | Checklist 2 |
No | Checklist 4 | ||
Professional Officers | Checklist 5 | ||
Audit Exception | Checklist 6 |
Please send a copy of the relevant checklist with your return. Whilst it is not compulsory to use the checklist, it should help you to comply and help us to check for completeness. The completeness check is carried out by us on receipt of your return. This is a limited check; any omissions identified during this check will be notified to you promptly. Other questions may arise at a later stage during the Authority's substantive review of the return.
Please note the checklists are not legal documents, but are produced by the Authority to assist licenceholders to comply with the Financial Services Rule Book. It is a licenceholder’s responsibility to ensure that its regulatory returns are submitted and received by the Authority by the due date. Submission dates for the regulatory returns are detailed in the individual rules.
Licenceholders are subject to civil penalties if certain returns are not submitted on time. Penalties are based on length of delay and frequency of late submission of financial returns. Please see the Financial Services (Civil Penalties) Regulations 2015.
All Class 1 licenceholders and many Class 2 and Class 3 licenceholders report using the Authority's Financial Reporting System. Class 4 and 5 licenceholders do not use the Financial Reporting System, but should find the material useful, as all except professional officers are required to carry out financial resources calculations.
A user guide for the Financial Reporting System can be found here.
The document "Procedural Instructions for financial returns" contains information about the calculation of financial returns, extracts from the relevant Parts of the Rule Book and some specific guidance. The document is accompanied by a spreadsheet to assist licenceholders in the calculations. It is primarily relevant to licenceholders in Classes 2 and 3 who report using the Financial Reporting System, but should also assist licenceholders in Classes 4 and 5 and those licenceholders in Classes 2 and 3 who do not report using the Financial Reporting System.
The document "Quarterly Prudential Returns" contains information to assist Class 1 licenceholders in the completion of interim returns via the electronic reporting system. The returns are completed via the following spreadsheets:
Appendix 5 (Client Money Information Sheet) of the Financial Services Rule Book 2016 has been revoked and the specified Clients’ Account Information can now be found here (PDF / Word). It is not necessary to send all of the material to every client, the form indicates which paragraphs must or may be sent out to clients of each Class of licenceholder.
- Class 1 licenceholders are notified by the Authority of requirements for statistical returns and Bank of International Settlements (“BIS”) returns. BIS returns are submitted using the attached template: BIS template and BIS guidance notes. A user guide for BIS reporting on the Financial Reporting System can be found here.
- Class 1 licenceholders should use this spreadsheet to provide Financial Flow Statistics on a quarterly basis. The spreadsheet should be returned within 3 months of each calendar quarter-end.
- Class 2 investment managers and stockbrokers and Class 3 asset managers and custodians/trustee use the Class 2 and 3 statistics reporting spreadsheet to provide statistical information on a six-monthly basis. The spreadsheet should be returned within 15 business days of the last day of June and December.
- Class 3 fund managers and administrators provides statistical information via the Authority's online reporting portal. Here is a template CIS statistics reporting spreadsheet. The statistics should be submitted within 15 business days after the end of each calendar quarter;
- Not all Class 4 licenceholders which provide services to closed ended investment companies have access to the online reporting portal and may therefore continue to use the CIS statistics reporting spreadsheet to provide statistical information. The closed ended investment company tab should be completed and returned within 15 business days after the end of each calendar quarter;
- Class 8(1) 8(2)(b) and 8(3) licenceholders should use this template to provide statistical information on an annual basis. The return must be completed as at the annual reporting date and must be submitted within four months.
The Clients' Assets Report (PDF / Word) applies to Financial Services Act 2008 licenceholder and applies for financial years ending on or after 1 January 2017. In 2017, all licenceholders controlling clients’ assets will need to complete the Clients’ Assets Report, arrange for it to be reviewed by their auditors and submit it to the Authority within 6 months of the licenceholder’s financial year end in accordance with Rule 5.18 of the Financial Services Rule Book 2016. Subsequent years will require an Auditor Review in accordance with the Authority’s Risk-Based Approach to Client Assets Reporting. The Authority will communicate initial frequencies with relevant licenceholders. Thereafter, any changes will be advised to licenceholders as required.
The Authority has prepared some additional guidance (FAQ’s) for licenceholders here.
The Authority has issued thematic feedback on the first round of CAR submissions, which is available here.
A Professional Indemnity Insurance Confirmation Form (Word / PDF) must be completed by all Class 2, Class 3, Class 4, Class 5, Class 8(2)(a) and Class 8(4) licenceholders and their insurers or insurance brokers for each policy renewal.
In the event of a licence surrender, the Authority may require a licenceholder to hold run-off professional indemnity insurance in respect of claims arising from past acts or omissions. In such cases, a Professional Indemnity Insurance Run-off Confirmation (Word / PDF) should be completed.
Class 3 licenceholders notify the Authority of pricing errors in collective investment schemes within 15 business days after the end of each calendar quarter, using the online reporting portal, Where this is not available, a CIS error reporting form should be completed.
As well as structured periodic returns, licenceholders are required to inform the Authority of various events, either on a notification basis, or requiring prior consent before an action can proceed. The attached Rule Book consent and notification summary table, summarises the requirements.
The attached Rule Book obligations to maintain policies and Rule Book obligations to keep registers summarise the requirements.
The Authority has prepared templates which licenceholders may use if they wish. These are not statutory documents and their use is not obligatory.
- Conflicts of Interest
- Breaches
- Complaints
- CIS pricing errors (summary)
- CIS pricing errors (single page)
Money Laundering Reporting Officers can find templates for a register of disclosures and a register of enquiries from the authorities in the Anti Money Laundering Handbook at Appendix J, Appendix K and Appendix L.