The Isle of Man Financial Services Authority is to send a questionnaire to every regulated and registered business on the island, seeking updated information on the risks that foreign politically exposed persons (PEPs) pose to the finance sector.
The regulator said the survey will go out through its STRIX data system early in November. It will combine yes-or-no questions with free-text answers across a range of PEP-related topics. Firms will have four weeks to submit their responses.
PEPs are people whose public role or influence may make them targets for bribery or corruption. The Authority said this means they can carry a higher risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, and it said firms needed to remain vigilant.
The exercise follows a review carried out by the Authority between 2021 and 2023, which tested the controls firms had in place to manage PEP-related risks. The Authority published its first thematic report on foreign PEPs in May 2023.
According to the Authority, the responses will show its AML/CFT Supervision Division, which oversees anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing compliance, what firms have done since that report. The division will then be able to set the new results against the earlier ones and see how firms have strengthened the way they identify and manage foreign PEPs.
A report on the responses, including examples of best practice and areas for improvement, is expected to be published in 2027.
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