Applicants must also meet basic eligibility criteria such as being a registered Isle of Man company with a minimum of two on-Island directors and a nominated on-Island Responsible Person (RP). One of the on-Island directors may be appointed as the RP or another individual who lives in the Isle of Man may be appointed.

Persons convicted of an offence in any jurisdiction relating to drugs control, are not permitted to be associated with an Isle of Man medicinal cannabis licence. They will not be approved by the GSC for any role. The GSC also expects all licence holders to apply controls to ensure the same during recruitment

Information is required in order to allow the GSC to check the backgrounds of owners and controllers. Owners must be people of integrity (i.e. they respect the law) and controllers must be people of integrity and competence (i.e. they respect the law and can be relied upon to act in the licence’s best interests). If a person is identified as an owner (shareholder, trustees, etc.) or a controller (RP, head of security/compliance or finance) then their Personal Declaration Form should be accompanied by –

• Identification documents and proof of address to allow the GSC to carry out verification of identity
• A brief outline of experience that relates to the application to show that the applicant understands the nature of the proposed business
• Declarations of any sanctions or convictions or ongoing cases in order to assess individual integrity (including sanctions from other regulatory bodies)
• Information about any other licences held that may be relevant to the application and demonstrate experience of compliance requirements.