Settlement Agreements

Summary

The requester asked for the number, reasons, and compensation figures of Settlement Agreements issued by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority since September 2021, along with a template. The Authority disclosed total monetary settlement amounts by year but withheld specific counts, reasons, and templates due to data protection exemptions regarding personal information.

Key Facts

• The Authority provided total settlement amounts paid between 2021 and 2024.
• Specific breakdowns by reason or individual agreement counts were withheld to prevent identification of individuals.
• No template for Settlement Agreements is held by the Authority as they are created by Manx Industrial Relations.
• The response was issued on 13 January 2025 following a request received on 31 December 2024.
• The total amount of settlements paid over the requested period was £178,967.93.

Data Disclosed

• 2021: £0
• 2022: £102,065.90
• 2023: £76,902.03
• 2024: £0
• TOTAL: £178,967.93
• September 2021
• 31 December 2024
• 13 January 2025

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25(b)(i) & (ii) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Absolutely exempt personal information)
• Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (Data Protection Principles)
• Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (Conditions for lawful processing)

Original Request

Dear Sir, Please may you provide me with the total number of Settlement Agreements that have been issued by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority between September 2021 and current. Please may this be broken down into a table which categorises the reason for the Settlement Agreement (e.g. disciplinary etc.) and also the monetary compensation figure associated with each respective Settlement Agreement. Lastly, please may you provide me with a blank copy of the Settlement Agreement that is currently on file that would be used as a template to fill in the blanks as per se. Thanks.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Isle of Man Financial Services Authority PO Box 58, Finch Hill House, Bucks Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM99 1DT Tel: +44 (0)1624 646000 Website: www.iomfsa.im

Our ref: 4339704 13 January 2025

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 31 December 2024, which states:

"Dear Sir,

Please may you provide me with the total number of Settlement Agreements that have been issued by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority between September 2021 and current.

Please may this be broken down into a table which categorises the reason for the Settlement Agreement (e.g. disciplinary etc.) and also the monetary compensation figure associated with each respective Settlement Agreement.

Lastly, please may you provide me with a blank copy of the Settlement Agreement that is currently on file that would be used as a template to fill in the blanks as per se.

Thanks."

Our response to your request is as follows: I have detailed below the information.

s25(b)(i)&(ii) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information). The reasons why that exemption applies are that: • The Isle of Man Financial Services Authority is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and • The Isle of Man Financial Services Authority is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met.

To supply the information broken down as requested would potentially identify individuals. Supplying the total number of agreements per year would potentially identify individuals. As would supplying the reason for the settlement.

Please find below a table showing the total amounts of settlements paid out by the Authority over the periods requested.

Year Settlement Amount 2021 £ 0 2022 £ 102,065.90 2023 £ 76,902.03 2024 £ 0 TOTAL £ 178,967.93

The Authority does not hold a template version of a settlement agreement, these are created by Manx Industrial Relations for any settlement the Authority is party to.

Please quote the reference number 4339704 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.