Legislation
Categories of Fiduciary Licence
Under the Financial Services Act 2008, Corporate Services Providers require a Class 4 licence and Trust Services Providers, a Class 5 licence.
A business may hold both classes of licence.
A summary of the regulated activities and details of the Commission’s General Licensing Policy can be obtained from the web pages of the Financial Supervision Commission. The Regulated Activities Order 2008 gives full definitions for licensable activities. The Financial Services (Exemption) Regulations 2008 set out where exemptions can apply in licence categories.
For example, an accountant giving accountancy or tax advice, keeping accounting records or preparing and auditing the accounts of a company is not required to hold a licence.
A company that, purely as a private arrangement, acts as a trustee for one or more trusts, is exempt from the requirement to hold a licence, provided that the administration of the relevant trusts is undertaken by a licensed fiduciary, for example, a corporate trustee who operates in or from the Isle of Man in respect of one or more related family
trusts.