Stakeholders from the financial sector discuss beneficial ownership |25 March 2023

  Mr Francis addressing the gathering (Photos: Louis Toussaint)

Public and private partnership, along with good communication between the different parties to allow smooth operation within the business environment, were among the main recommendations gathered during a half-day conference focusing on beneficial ownership.

The meeting, held at the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) conference room on Wednesday, was organised by the International Financial Services Association (Sifsa), and it gathered representatives from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the financial sector.

The aim of the conference was to promote dialogue and debate, to ensure compliance with international norms, while remaining competitive with other jurisdictions.

Addressing those present, chairman of Sifsa, Marco Francis, noted that the government will soon come up with proposals in the beneficial ownership legal framework, involving members of the industry through discussions, all with the aim of easing the implementation of the laws.

Mr Francis added that the timeline given to the industry to implement the changes was quite tight, but they however managed to work smoothly and as a whole, the conclusion has been very positive, with clients being positive about the changes.

He said since the government wants to introduce new laws to collect new data, they are in discussion to ensure that the requirement for new data does not defeat the purpose.

“We comply with international norms but we have to also see that we are competitive with other jurisdictions,” noted Mr Francis, who added that Seychelles is very competitive in the region and our laws should always keep the country compliant, being in the good books of the regulators.

He said Sifsa is already in discussion with the government to have a common ground.

Chief executive of the FSA, Randolf Samson, said their involvement in the conference was mainly to raise awareness on the BO Act and also to share the implementation process over the last three years.

He said even if the law was passed in 2020, it is still relatively new and the FSA as the responsible regulator has been conducting awareness campaigns about it, and thanked the Sifsa for gathering all stakeholders to discuss the BO Act.

Mr Samson also noted that during the last three years, the industry had to come to terms with the changes brought by the law which already existed in the International Business Companies law, while the world is moving towards more transparency. 

“As a country we have to be aware that the international landscape is not static and the changes are becoming recurrent, and as an authority, we have to meet the requirements but we need to be mindful to strike the right balance between compliance with the law and the businesses,” he added.

Those present had the chance to see presentation by a World Bank representative on the country’s partnership framework, followed by another one by expert on financial crime and regulatory compliance, Frederika Taccogna, who gave an overview of the international scenario.

Paul Robert of the FSA made a thorough presentation on the BO Act, legislations obligations, recent amendments and timelines, along with the new register format, proposed amendments coming up and guidelines.

Anita Naidu of the FSA shared feedbacks and proposed recommendations from the inspections, before a panel discussion, moderated by Veronique Herminie, ended the conference.

The participants clearly expressed major concerns as a result of not having the adequate resources to keep up with the ever-changing requirements and they want more training/consultations and workshops from the regulator before changes are made in a law regarding their industry.

Vidya Gappy

Photos: Louis Toussaint