Gibraltar Law (PCCGL) cheat sheet

Financial Services Act 2019 consolidated the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) as regulator; the GFSC's statutory objectives include promoting market confidence, protecting consumers, and reducing financial crime.

Financial Services Act 2019 s.7 creates the offence of carrying on a regulated activity in Gibraltar without authorisation: criminal liability plus regulatory sanction; the regulated activities list is set out in Schedule 2 of the Act.

The Financial Services (Investment and Fiduciary Services) Act 1989 (as amended) governs investment and fiduciary business; the Financial Services (Banking) Act 1992 governs banking; the Financial Services (Insurance Companies) Act 1987 governs insurance.

Financial Services Act 2019 Part 6 imposes fit-and-proper requirements on controllers and senior managers; a person acquiring or increasing control (10%, 20%, 33%, 50% thresholds) must notify the GFSC and obtain approval before completion.

GFSC supervisory toolkit includes own-initiative powers, information requests, skilled person reports, restrictions on business, public censure, financial penalties, and winding-up petitions; enforcement is subject to a right of appeal to the Supreme Court of Gibraltar.

Proceeds of Crime Act 2015 (Gibraltar) creates money laundering, terrorist financing, and failure-to-report offences; the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit (GFIU) receives suspicious activity reports (SARs) under the disclosure regime.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2015 requires regulated firms to appoint a Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and to maintain risk-based customer due diligence, record-keeping, and staff training; the Gibraltar Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations 2020 (as amended) set out the detailed CDD and enhanced due diligence rules.

The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA) regulates data protection under the Data Protection Act 2004 (as amended to reflect GDPR standards) and communications; the Gibraltar Data Protection Commissioner is the supervisory authority.

Gibraltar's constitution (Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006) establishes the Governor, the Gibraltar Parliament, and the Government; the Governor retains responsibility for external affairs, defence, and internal security, subject to the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006 and the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Gibraltar).

The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission's Principles for Businesses (GFSC Prudential and Conduct standards) require firms to conduct business with integrity, due skill, care and diligence, and to treat customers fairly; breaches can be enforced under Financial Services Act 2019 Part 8.

Gibraltar's anti-money laundering regime applies enhanced due diligence to politically exposed persons (PEPs), correspondent relationships, and high-risk jurisdictions; simplified due diligence is permitted only where risk is demonstrably low and documented.

The Financial Services Act 2019 requires firms to report breaches of regulatory requirements to the GFSC; the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) approach in Gibraltar allocates prescribed responsibilities to approved senior managers.

The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission's enforcement decisions are published in accordance with its Enforcement Policy; financial penalties are calculated with reference to the seriousness of the breach, the firm's revenue, and any aggravating or mitigating factors.

The Financial Services (Information and Cooperation) Act and Gibraltar's membership of international bodies (IOSCO, IAIS, and the GFSC's MoUs) support cross-border supervisory cooperation; Gibraltar is a member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information.

Gibraltar's Companies Act 2014 governs company formation, directors' duties, and shareholder rights; the Companies (Re-domiciliation) Act permits inward and outward re-domiciliation of companies.

The Insolvency Act 2011 (Gibraltar) governs administration, liquidation, and voluntary arrangements; the Financial Services Act 2019 provides for special administration of authorised firms to protect clients and maintain market stability.

The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission's guidance notes (e.g., on distributed ledger technology, virtual asset service providers, and e-money) supplement the statutory framework; the DLT framework under the Financial Services Act 2019 Schedule 2 covers firms carrying on distributed ledger technology activities.

The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission's complaints-handling requirements require firms to maintain internal complaint procedures and to refer unresolved complaints to the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission or the Financial Services Ombudsman where applicable.

Gibraltar's anti-money laundering regime requires firms to conduct periodic independent audits of their AML/CFT systems and controls; the MLRO must report to the board at least annually on the effectiveness of those systems.