Application for a licence

(1) An application for the grant of a licence to carry on banking business or financial business from within Belize shall be made in writing in such form and in such manner, and shall contain such information and particulars and shall be accompanied by such details, together with a non-refundable application fee, as may be specified by the Central Bank, having due regard to the types of banking business or financial business the applicant proposes to conduct. The Central Bank may specify the form and content of any application submitted under this section, and may differentiate among classes of financial institutions with respect to the form and content of such (2) The Central Bank may refuse to accept an application which does not contain all the information specified in sub- section (1) by providing written notice to the applicant of such refusal. 41 (3) An application under sub-section (1) shall show that the proposed bank or financial institution will comply with the requirements of Section 14 (2), where applicable. The Central Bank shall also require that such application– (a) give particulars of, but not limited to– (i) the names and addresses of its directors and principal shareholders or proposed directors and principal (ii) the ultimate beneficial ownership of a proposed bank, financial institution or other entity where the shareholders of record are, or are to be, bodies corporate or other entities or where the shareholders or proposed shareholders of record are acting as nominees for or under the of any notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law; (iii) the shareholding structure and management of a local company, proposed local company, foreign bank, foreign financial institution or other entity where the shareholders or proposed shareholders of record are, or are to be, bodies corporate or other entities, or, in the case of an application by a foreign bank or foreign financial institution to carry on banking business or financial business 42 in Belize on a branch basis, the management of the proposed branch; (iv) the financial standing of the local company or proposed local company or of the foreign bank or foreign (v) a principal office in Belize; and (vi) by name, one of its officers approved by the Central Bank, to be such applicant’s authorized agent in Belize; (b) contain a detailed business and financial plan for the proposed bank or financial institution; (c) provide such other information of a financial or other nature as the Central Bank may require in any general or particular case. (4) In addition to the requirements of sub-section (3), a foreign bank or foreign financial institution, whether intending to carry on banking business or financial business in Belize through a local company that is its subsidiary or through a branch in Belize, shall further supply to the Central Bank when making its application– (a) a written statement from the banking or financial institution supervisory authority in its country of incorporation, and the banking or financial institution supervisory authority in the country where its principal office is located if different, confirming that the authority has no objection to the application; 43 (b) where applicable, evidence satisfactory to the Central Bank that it is subject to a comprehensive regime of supervision on a consolidated basis by a foreign authority or other appropriate authority in its home country; and (c) evidence satisfactory to the Central Bank of the comprehensive nature of anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism legal and institutional framework in its home jurisdiction. (5) An application for a licence and all documents submitted pursuant to this Act in support of the application shall be signed by the directors of a local company, the proposed shareholders or directors of a proposed local company or the directors of a foreign bank or foreign financial institution making the application, as the case may be. (6) Documents submitted to the Central Bank under sub- sections (3) and (4) may be produced in evidence in any court of law or before the Appeal Board.