Parliament on Friday tabled an Act to counter and combat terrorism and the financing of terrorism.makes it an offence to raise funds for terrorism and use or possess money or other property for terrorism. It is also illegal under the Act to launder terrorist property or participate in arrangements where money or other property is made available for terrorism.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority regulates the Island?s banking, trust insurance and investment industries. Its chairman Cheryl Ann Lister is currently participating in the Bermuda Briefing in London. Last night in a speech to delegates she explained the reasons for the new terrorism Act as well as other financial industry legislation implemented in recent years.

?Internationally, regulators have had to take a much more ?hands on? role in compliance testing in relation to anti-money laundering systems and controls within licensed institutions. This is natural in light of the growing dangers ? both reputation and financial ? for firms that let down their guard and inadvertently enable or facilitate access to the financial system by criminal elements,? she said. ?Weakness in anti-money laundering controls also represents a material risk for a jurisdiction in which offences occur. A core responsibility of the financial regulator clearly involves assessing, monitoring and checking the adequacy of controls over such material risks. Certainly, Bermuda must be, and indeed is actively involved in this process.?

The Anti-Terrorism Act also includes a number of measures detailing reporting requirements of such activities. It requires businesses to report to a Police officer if they believe or suspect a person has committed any such offence. Businesses may disclose such information without fear of breaching legal restrictions, however non-disclosure is defensible if a person has a reasonable excuse or is a legal adviser and the information is privileged.

The Act makes particular provision authorising and requiring specified public officers or authorities to disclose information in respect of criminal terrorist finance investigations or proceedings, however it does allow the Minister to prohibit the disclosure of such information for the purposes of overseas criminal investigations or criminal proceedings. The Act also makes it possible for someone involved with terrorist property to avoid prosecution by informing the police and discontinuing involvement if asked to do so by police.

There are also provision for Customs, immigration or Police officers to seize and detain cash for up to 48 hours if it is intended for terrorism use. Permission to detain the funds for longer periods may be granted by a magistrate.

The Act also allows the court to order the forfeiture of any money or property in the possession or under the control of a defendant if it was intended to be used for terrorism.

It also provides for the forfeiture of terrorist property in a case where a professional such as an accountant, banker or lawyer assisted with the laundering of terrorist property. Police investigating a terrorist offence may apply to the Supreme Court for an account monitoring order. If the order is granted, financial institutions would have to provide specified information in relation to a particular account for a specified period of time.

Several other Acts pertaining to the business world have also been tabled in Parliament this month as the BMA and Ministry of Finance strive to update the whole suite of Bermuda?s financial services legislation.

@EDITRULE:The Insurance Amendment Act 2004 will be debated in Parliament on November 26. It updates and amends standards and requirements in the Insurance Act 1978. Among these, it makes provision for the Bermuda Monetary Authority to issue guidance on the requirements and standards to be complied with by regulated persons. It also reduces the period in which an insurer is required to notify the Authority of changes in information and stipulates that an insurer?s loss reserve specialist must be approved by the Authority.

The Act clarifies the appointing and removing of auditors and sets a new standard for independence of auditors, It also imposes new obligations on approved auditors to communicate certain matters to the Authority. Another amendment requires Class 1 insurers to file statutory financial statements on an annual basis while all insurers must file statutory financial returns simultaneously with the filing of financial statements.

Mrs. Lister spoke to the reason for amendments in this act as well as several others during her speech to the London Bermuda Briefing.

?Carrying through major ?Carrying through major amendments to financial legislation is inevitably complex and time-consuming, even in a small jurisdiction like Bermuda,? she said.

?We are committed to getting the legislation right and to implementing it, following full consultation with the sectors involved. Without that spirit of Cupertino, our view is that implementation will prove much less effective. So, we discuss extensively with Government and industry, both in planning and drafting and later on, when we design the various aspects of our supervisor approach and determine practical aspects of the standards against which licensees are to be judged.?

@EDITRULE:

Theand thehave also been tabled in the House recently. These are similar to the Banking Appeal Regulations Tribunal Regulations 2001 adopted under the Banks and Deposit Companies Act 1999. The object is to have similar appeal procedures apply to all financial services regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.