Belize International Financial
Services Commission Act

With the enactment of International Financial Services Commission Act in 1999, International Financial Services Commission was established. The Act was enacted to oversee the growing offshore sector in Belize.

As the regulator of the offshore industry, IFSC covers many services such as international business companies (IBCs), mutual funds, international insurance, trusts. The mandate of IFSC is:

to promote and develop Belize as a center of international financial services; to provide the supervision and regulation of international financial services; to protect and enhance the reputation of Belize as an offshore financial center; to formulate policies and provide advice and assistance to the government on the international financial services regulation; to collect, store and give out reliable and timely information to those who are interested in changes and new trends in international financial services.

IFSC is a self-regulating body - while government sets overall standards, it expects the actual work in monitoring and compliance to be done.

Recently, IFSC has implemented licensing regulations in order to licence all international financial services providers. The application fee is USD 500. The annual licence fee is USD 2 500.

As far as Belize is an active member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), it follows its principles to avoid and fight money laundering and ensure stability in the global financial system. Belize also follows the objectives of the UN Offshore Forum on Money Laundering.

For more information about Belize and Belize Real Estate, please contact:

Caribbean Property Consultants
P.O. Box 149 Dangriga Stann Creek, Belize, Central America