The Bermuda Monetary Authority has levied civil penalties of almost US$2.1 million against Conyers Trust Company and Conyers Corporate Services in Bermuda.
The companies have been fined for their historic failures to adequately comply with, respectively, the Trusts Act and the Corporate Service Provider Business Act, as well as the jurisdiction’s anti-money laundering regulations.
Conyers Trust Company is subject to a penalty of $1,118,500, while Conyers Corporate Services has to pay the authority $981,000.
The fines came in response to onsite inspections at the firms by the regulator in November 2017 and August 2018. During the inspections, the regulator identified several deficiencies in the companies’ anti-money laundering/anti-terrorist financing programmes and their obligations under the law.
In an enforcement notice, the BMA said Conyers’ trust and corporate services arms had not adequately complied with the regulations in terms of customer due diligence; ongoing monitoring and periodic review; enhanced due diligence; systems; independent audit; and training.
Regarding the companies’ licensing requirements under the Trusts Act and the Corporate Service Provider Business Act, the regulator said it had identified failings concerning corporate governance polices, the requirement to conduct business in a prudent manner and change of controller notifications.
The authority had given Conyers until December 2019 to rectify the deficiencies. Although the company made considerable progress, the BMA said it noted a number of deficiencies had not been remediated to its satisfaction by the deadline.
“Despite this delay, the company has complied with the Authority’s directions in a timely manner throughout the entire remediation process,” the regulator said.
In determining the size of the fines, the BMA said it had taken into account the size and quality of the companies’ book of business, that there had been no financial benefit to the companies from the deficiencies, Conyers’ full cooperation throughout, and the significant cost incurred by the companies in revising their AML/ATF programmes and implementing new and improved controls.
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