The Isle of Man has launched a public consultation on measures to simplify the territory’s rules on preventing money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CTF).

The changes reduce the scope of Customer Due Diligence requirements for certain financial services business activities.

The proposals are aimed at retaining the Isle of Man’s strong track record of compliance with international regulatory standards while supporting the needs of the local business community.

The proposed changes to the draft code follow industry feedback on a previous AML consultation.

This earlier consultation found that:

1. proposed revisions to the code would increase the compliance burden, rather than reducing it as intended;
2. not provide a significant reduction in AML/CFT risks; and
3. make the island’s businesses significantly less competitive in an international context, and in particular in relation to the regimes in place in the UK, Jersey, and Guernsey.

The Isle of Man’s Home Affairs Minister, Juan Watterson, said:

• “We have listened to the comments provided by the island’s business community during our initial consultation last year and sought to balance those against the need for updated AML/CFT regulations.
• As such, we have come back with revisions that we hope will address many of these concerns.
• Our aim is to put in place a regime that is robust, proportionate, and in line with evolving international standards.”

The deadline for submissions is January 29, 2015.