Established in August 2001 with the Financial Services Commission Act, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) replaced the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) and Unit Trusts and the Securities Commission.
As a self-financing regulatory body, we assume wide-ranging authority to supervise, investigate and sanction entities falling under our jurisdiction. Initially, our supervisory practices initially placed significant weight on prudential supervision. We focused on solvency, the quality of internal controls, risk management and corporate governance within regulated institutions.
Over time, we absorbed the functions of the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, the Office of the Superintendent of Unit Trusts and the Securities Commission. Our charge is to supervise our licensees under the FSC, Insurance, Securities and Unit Trusts Acts. We also regulate private pension schemes through the Pensions (Superannuation Funds and Retirements Schemes) Act of 2004 (The Pensions Act).
Our team license, register and supervise trustees, administrators and investment managers of private pension schemes. As an integrated financial services regulator, we oversee the securities, insurance and private pensions industries. We ensure the proper administration of securities and insurance laws. Our role involves the registration, solvency and conduct of approximately 114 firms and over 1,200 individuals doing business in both (life and general) industries.
Additionally, we register and manage over 800 private pension plans and numerous pension administrators and investment managers. Our work with these entities involves administering many statutes and accompanying regulations. The relevant laws are the FSC Act, the Securities Act, the Pension Act, the Unit Trusts Act and the Insurance Act.
Promoting Integrity in the Jamaican Financial Sector
