A fine of $200,000 has been imposed on Colonial Pension Services Ltd after it breached a condition of its licence and committed multiple breaches of regulations.

The Bermudian-based company said it had reported the matter to the Bermuda Monetary Authority last year, and accepted the BMA’s decision to impose the civil penalty.

The company held client assets between November 2015 and December 2017, which was in breach of a condition of its licence.

Furthermore, it committed several breaches of the Investment Business (Client money) Regulations 2004, including the regulation that an investment provider pays all client money it holds into a client bank account, and if it holds client money, it must either pay it as soon as possible, or in any event no later than the next business day.

The BMA said it viewed the breaches as serious due to their nature and duration, and took into account that the company had benefited financially from the breaches.

Imposing the fine, the BMA also recognised the company’s action to conduct an independent compliance review to remediate the problem, and that it had been co-operative since bringing the matter to the attention of the BMA.

Colonial Pension Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Colonial Group International, said it reported the matter to the BMA in May, having retained the services of a local accounting firm to provide an independent review of any potential regulatory issue under the Investment Business Act 2003.

When the review was compiled in July, Colonial said it provided the BMA with a copy of its report “having put in place measures to address all issues identified to ensure the Company’s ongoing compliance”.

In its statement, Colonial added: “This has been a constructive experience and the company wishes to express its appreciation to the Authority for its guidance throughout.”