Financial Services Authority revokes Blackfridge SC Limited's licence

The Isle of Man Financial Services Authority has revoked the licence of Blackfridge SC Limited in full, after finding a series of governance, reporting and financial failings at the firm.

The regulator announced the decision in a public statement on 12 October. It said the revocation, made under section 9(1) of the Financial Services Act 2008, took effect on 5 October.

Blackfridge had held a licence for certain Class 8 regulated activities since 31 January 2022 and operated within the Authority’s regulatory sandbox, according to the statement.

The Authority said Blackfridge has no operational staff and only one director, who does not live on the island. The firm has had no Head of Compliance, Money Laundering Officer or Deputy Money Laundering Officer since 23 August 2024, which the regulator said left it with no regulatory compliance or financial crime prevention function.

As a result, the Authority found the company fell short of the minimum governance standards in its Licensing Policy and was in breach of several provisions of the Financial Services Rule Book.

The regulator also listed a number of other failings:

• Since 6 November 2024, the company has not had authority to maintain its registered office.
• It did not file audited financial statements for the years ending 31 December 2022 and 31 December 2023.
• Its auditor resigned with immediate effect on 18 February 2025, leaving it unable to produce audited accounts for 2024.
• It has not supplied the monthly information agreed as part of supervisory monitoring since July 2024.
• It has not paid a £2,000 administrative civil penalty issued on 8 July 2024, nor its 2024/25 annual licence fee.
• Websites on which it was required to publish information under its licence conditions were either inaccessible or had not been maintained for an extended period.

The firm’s licence was suspended, with its agreement, on 14 January 2025. The Authority said Blackfridge then failed to provide information or complete any of the required actions within the set timeframes, and did not comply with a direction issued the same day.

According to the regulator, Blackfridge was unable to show that it had a viable and sustainable business model while in the sandbox. Although the firm gave notice in March 2025 that it intended to surrender its licence, the Authority said no progress had been made and three agreed deadlines to complete the process were missed. It also did not put its own wind-down plan into effect.

The Authority concluded that allowing the company to remain licensed would pose a “significant risk to the Authority’s regulatory objectives”. It added that letting the firm continue to carry on regulated activities in or from the island would damage confidence in the Manx financial services industry and its development as an international financial centre.

The regulator said it issued the statement under section 13 of the Act because doing so was in the public interest, supporting its aims of protecting customers, reducing financial crime and maintaining confidence in the sector.