Applicable law
Licences are issued under The Insurance Managers and Insurance Intermediaries (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002, as amended ("the Law").
Applicants for a licence must read and understand the minimum criteria for licensing, set out in Schedule 4 of the Law.
Application
The licence application must contain:
Application form and supporting documentation
The application is to be made using the Application portal, including uploading the supporting documentation where requested as part of the application questions.
Application fee
The fee is non-refundable. Fees
Beneficial owner evidence
Copies of authorisation or incorporation certificates relating to the beneficial owner of the applicant may be requested.
Business plan
A narrative business plan detailing the prospective business.
Client money
Details of client money handling procedures.
Personal Questionnaire ("OPQ") and Online Appointment ("OA")
OPQs and/or OAs must be submitted through the Online PQ Portal for each natural person who is a beneficial owner, controller, partner, director, company secretary, Money Laundering Reporting Officer, Money Laundering Compliance Officer, Compliance Officer, or manager of the applicant.
Resources and delegation
The applicant is required to have adequate resources in terms of personnel, policies, procedures, premises, and systems to conduct operations including: record-keeping; compliance; anti-money laundering measures; internal control, and other systems.
If the applicant proposes to delegate some responsibilities to other service providers, then the arrangements must be acceptable to the Commission and demonstrate that the delegate, including the authorised insurance representative, has the necessary capabilities.
Professional indemnity cover
Details of the amount, and limitations, of the proposed cover of the applicant.
Bank mandate
Listing signing powers of the applicant.
Establishment evidence
Certificate of incorporation, and memorandum and articles of association.
Share capital
Documentary confirmation that share capital has been received.
Source of funds
Confirmation of the origin of the source of funds to support the operations of the applicant.
Additional information
Where the applicant, controller, or ultimate holding company is resident in a sensitive jurisdiction, as published by the Commission on its website, further details may be requested.
Application process
We will assess and review the application and inform the applicant, or its professional advisers, of any matters requiring expansion and/or clarification. Once all queries have been satisfied, the application will be referred to a decision-maker. A formal response will follow decision-making.
Timeframe
We aim to provide an in principle agreement to applicants within 28 calendar days of receipt of a fully completed application.
Application quality
The response time may be advanced or substantially delayed depending on the quality of the submitted application.
Written response
We will send a written response detailing any matters that require expansion and/or clarification to enable the application to be referred to a decision-maker. If the application has been made through the application portal, all responses will be sent inside of the portal.
If we receive no response to these queries within a three-month time period, we reserve the right to archive the application, such that, any future licence application following this period would require a new submission. Applications that remain in draft format, without being submitted, on the application portal will be removed after three months.
Application conclusion
Licence
Successful applicants will be issued with a licence certificate.
Conditions
Any conditions which may be imposed on the licence will be scheduled in a covering letter. Conditions will have been discussed with applicants in advance.
Annual fee
Upon licensing, the annual licence fee becomes due; reduced pro rata in the first year. An invoice will be sent by email.