The Independent Financial Centre of the Americas will operate within the legal framework created by Law No. 480-08 on International Financial Zones (IFZs) in the Dominican Republic. The content of Law 480-08 is the result of a process of extensive research on international financial centres, their legislation and operating environment, as well as the practices and needs of the international financial market. It was subject to a thorough evaluation process by leading experts from around the world and the Dominican Republic.
This Law will play an important role in developing the Centre as a regional economic hub and a new world-class standard in the international financial mainstream. It creates a sophisticated regulatory framework including principles of integrity, transparency, compliance, oversight, and good governance aligned with internationally accepted standards. It will have very positive implications for the global financial marketplace, allowing for the development of the world's first privately owned international financial centre.
Law No. 480-08:
- Allows for the creation of International Financial Zones in which a defined group of strictly regulated international financial activities can be conducted within a state-of-the-art regulatory framework in accordance with the highest international regulatory, compliance, transparency and good governance principles
- Mandates that all activities within the International Financial Zones are separate from the monetary and banking systems of the Dominican Republic
- Creates the National Council for International Financial Zones (National Council), a decentralized state entity with legal, financial and operational autonomy to supervise the activities in the IFZs
- Mandates the National Council to ensure the efficient and effective supervision of a market operating in accordance with the highest commercial standards, as well as with internationally accepted principles of integrity and transparency by establishing an appropriate regulatory philosophy and direction
- Creates a Financial Services Regulatory Department and requires that it maintain and enforce the regulatory environment and framework for all Financial Service Providers and any other Users of financial services and related activities. It also establishes the types and minimum content for the Regulations that are to be drafted by this Department
- Creates the International Financial Zones Supervisory Department to supervise the Operators of the IFZs
- Creates a Financial Investigation Department to report directly to the National Council and with the responsibility to ensure compliance with all anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws and regulations in full cooperation with appropriate local and international authorities
- Lists the services and activities that may be offered within and from the International Financial Zones
- Establishes the authorization process applicable to the establishment of International Financial Zones
- Establishes the rights and obligations of the International Financial Zones and their Users
- Establishes that activities within the IFZs are exempt from certain taxes, including corporate income taxes; withholdings tax; incorporation tax and tax on increase in capital; municipal taxes; import duties on certain items destined for the Users and Operators of IFZs; and value added taxes. The Law also contains express provisions to ensure cross-border exchange of information, collaboration, and consolidated reporting
- States the sanctions that apply with respect to the different degrees of violations of Law 480-08
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