Michael Crowe, CEO of Finance Isle of Man, discusses how COVID-19 has prompted many businesses to rethink and adapt the ways they work and why as a result of the pandemic’s impact, the use of business platforms and technologies such as e-signatures has never been more pertinent.
As the world tries to navigate the challenges of COVID-19, there has been a significant increase in demand for the use of technologies such as electronic e-signatures. As businesses and public bodies implement home-working protocols in response to working from home guidance, remote contract signings will become a prerequisite.
E-signatures present a welcome solution to one of the challenges of homeworking – having the means to process transactions and agreements away from an office environment, processes which may include and are not limited to:
Regardless of current circumstances, electronic signature systems are widely used across the world especially when helping to overcome challenges such as business continuity and remote working; enabling businesses to remain engaged with a range of (now remote) stakeholders including customers, suppliers and employees.
E-Sign, an Isle of Man based electronic signature software provider, has already seen an increase in businesses looking to digitally transform their signature processes, following the outbreak of coronavirus;
‘E-Sign is working with businesses from a range of industries to help digitise their back office and customer facing processes during this time. This includes secure digital signature capture, which can be accessed and managed securely from anywhere in the world.
The events of the past few weeks have resulted in an influx of businesses looking to digitise their processes whilst operating remote working practices, to ensure business continuity and customer engagement continues.
The teams at E-Sign have been working around the clock with both existing businesses to expand their requirements, and new businesses who now need to go digital.
Our job is to make this process as smooth as possible for them during this difficult time’
Thomas Taylor, Managing Director, E-Sign
Manx Business Solutions (MBS), an IT services business based in the Isle of Man, has also seen the same uplift in enquiries for their DocuSign e-signature solutions for businesses;
‘We have seen a dramatic and unprecedented rise in demand for DocuSign e-signature solutions from a wide range of businesses, particularly in financial and professional services. This is due to coronavirus.
Ink and paper signatures have been the bedrock of life for many years, from securing a driver’s licence to finding a job to buying a house, as well as for any business to provide a service to its customers, our signature on a piece of paper has been essential. So moving to e-signatures felt scary to many people and businesses. Coronavirus has fundamentally changed that.
It is now logistically very difficult to post a document to people to sign. In the past people would typically print documents in their office and post them to the customer’s office for signing. When staff and customers are working from home that simply does not work. So e-signatures are the way businesses are going to carry on functioning’.
Chris Corlett, Head of Business Development with MBS
E-signatures are explicitly legal in 188 countries and many other countries recognise them as legally binding if both parties enter into them willingly. E-signature legislation came into effect on the Isle of Man in 2000 with the Isle of Man Electronic Transactions Act.
However businesses must still be aware that when determining how to issue an e-signature, it is important to consider the level of certainty that can be given to ensure that the correct person has signed the document and that the document has not been fraudulently executed. Systems will include multi-factor authentication, requiring a signatory to provide more than just an email address. SMS is a common second factor whereby the document can only be opened if a code is provided that has been sent to the signatory by SMS message separately from the emailed link to the document.
It is also worth noting, that e-signatures are not valid for all transactions – for example, UK law requires a contract for the sale of land in England and Wales to be in writing and signed in ink. But much of this is due to old law written before e-signatures were available and most countries are changing. For example, the EU is actively encouraging all Government bodies to utilise e-signatures.
Whilst most organisations will have some experience of digital signatures (and existing licences or subscriptions for e-signature platforms) not many organisations will have well-defined policies and procedures or be familiar with the practical and legal limitations of e-signature solutions.
A good starting point is to ensure the e-signature platform and/or provider you are considering are recognised and appropriately accredited to international standards. Many platform providers will provide demonstrations, offer guidance, free trials and pilot projects to help businesses build their understanding and trust of the technology before they use it widely with clients. Businesses should also consider implementing a solution with a small number of trusted suppliers and/or customers to build knowledge and experience, rolling out in a controlled, phased manner to all staff, suppliers and customers.
The use of e-signatures and electronic customer due diligence (CDD) is also permitted in the regulated and designated business sector. On 26 March 2020, the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority (the “Authority”) issued very helpful and pragmatic guidance to industry setting out how to comply with regulatory and AML requirements during the COVID-19 lockdown including in relation to holding face to face meetings via video conference, “selfie” KYC documents, electronic CDD and electronic signatures. The guidance can be found here. The Authority is updating its website regularly as the COVID-19 situation develops.
Nov 28, 2023
Nov 9, 2023
Oct 31, 2023
Oct 24, 2023
Oct 23, 2023
Oct 20, 2023
Oct 20, 2023
Oct 16, 2023
Oct 13, 2023
Oct 10, 2023
Oct 10, 2023
Oct 10, 2023
Oct 2, 2023
Oct 2, 2023
Sep 29, 2023
Sep 27, 2023
Sep 14, 2023
Jul 27, 2023
Jul 25, 2023
Jul 24, 2023
Jul 20, 2023
Jul 19, 2023
Jul 18, 2023
Jul 17, 2023
Jul 13, 2023
Jul 4, 2023
Jul 3, 2023
Jul 3, 2023
Jun 30, 2023
Jun 12, 2023
May 24, 2023
May 4, 2023
May 4, 2023
May 4, 2023
May 3, 2023
Apr 19, 2023
Apr 18, 2023
Mar 21, 2023
Mar 17, 2023
Mar 8, 2023
Feb 28, 2023
Feb 14, 2023
Feb 7, 2023
Feb 2, 2023
Jan 24, 2023
Jan 23, 2023
Jan 18, 2023
Jan 13, 2023
Jan 6, 2023
Jan 6, 2023
Jan 4, 2023
Jan 3, 2023
Jan 3, 2023
Dec 22, 2022
Dec 14, 2022
Dec 12, 2022
Dec 7, 2022
Nov 28, 2022
Nov 22, 2022
Nov 22, 2022
Nov 21, 2022
Nov 14, 2022
Nov 8, 2022
Oct 26, 2022
Oct 21, 2022
Oct 17, 2022
Sep 27, 2022
Sep 27, 2022
Sep 22, 2022
Aug 12, 2022
Jul 27, 2022
Jul 21, 2022
Jul 20, 2022
Jul 7, 2022
Jun 30, 2022
Jun 30, 2022
Jun 29, 2022
Jun 28, 2022
Jun 15, 2022
May 19, 2022
May 18, 2022
May 17, 2022
May 13, 2022
May 9, 2022
Apr 28, 2022
Apr 8, 2022
Apr 4, 2022
Mar 28, 2022
Mar 16, 2022
Mar 7, 2022
Mar 1, 2022
Feb 7, 2022
Feb 1, 2022
Jan 21, 2022
Dec 21, 2021
Dec 6, 2021
Nov 9, 2021
Oct 25, 2021
Oct 12, 2021
Oct 12, 2021
Oct 4, 2021
Oct 4, 2021
Oct 4, 2021
Oct 4, 2021
Oct 4, 2021
Aug 31, 2021
Aug 31, 2021
Aug 31, 2021
Aug 10, 2021
Aug 10, 2021
Jul 26, 2021
Jul 15, 2021
Jun 29, 2021
Jun 9, 2021
Jun 2, 2021
Jun 2, 2021
Jun 2, 2021
Jun 2, 2021
Jun 2, 2021
Jun 2, 2021
May 13, 2021
May 13, 2021
May 7, 2021
May 4, 2021
Apr 27, 2021
Apr 27, 2021
Apr 27, 2021
Apr 27, 2021
Apr 22, 2021
Apr 20, 2021
Apr 20, 2021
Apr 1, 2021
Mar 31, 2021
Mar 30, 2021
Mar 29, 2021
Mar 26, 2021
Mar 25, 2021
Mar 10, 2021
Feb 23, 2021
Feb 17, 2021
Feb 12, 2021
Feb 2, 2021
Feb 2, 2021
Feb 2, 2021
Feb 2, 2021
Feb 2, 2021
Feb 2, 2021
Jan 19, 2021
Jan 15, 2021
Jan 15, 2021
Jan 15, 2021
Jan 11, 2021
Dec 23, 2020
Dec 3, 2020
Dec 1, 2020
Dec 1, 2020
Nov 30, 2020
Nov 17, 2020
Nov 5, 2020
Nov 2, 2020
Oct 22, 2020
Oct 22, 2020
Oct 20, 2020
Oct 13, 2020
Oct 7, 2020
Oct 1, 2020
Oct 1, 2020
Sep 30, 2020
Sep 29, 2020
Sep 29, 2020
Sep 29, 2020
Sep 24, 2020
Sep 23, 2020
Sep 23, 2020
Sep 21, 2020
Sep 16, 2020
Sep 16, 2020
Sep 14, 2020
Sep 7, 2020
Aug 24, 2020
Aug 24, 2020
Aug 13, 2020
Aug 13, 2020
Aug 13, 2020
Aug 5, 2020
Aug 4, 2020
Jul 30, 2020
Jul 30, 2020
Jul 30, 2020
Jul 29, 2020
Jul 28, 2020
Jul 27, 2020
Jul 27, 2020
Jul 27, 2020
Jul 24, 2020
Jul 24, 2020
Jul 13, 2020
Jul 13, 2020
Jul 7, 2020
Jun 30, 2020
Jun 29, 2020
Jun 29, 2020
Jun 29, 2020
Jun 25, 2020
Jun 22, 2020
Jun 3, 2020
May 28, 2020
May 28, 2020
May 28, 2020
May 18, 2020
May 18, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
Apr 17, 2020
Mar 17, 2020
Mar 16, 2020
Mar 13, 2020
Mar 11, 2020
Feb 28, 2020
Feb 28, 2020
Feb 28, 2020
Feb 20, 2020
Feb 20, 2020
Jan 27, 2020
Jan 24, 2020
Jan 24, 2020
Jan 23, 2020
Dec 18, 2019
Dec 17, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019
Nov 25, 2019
Nov 25, 2019
Nov 25, 2019
Nov 25, 2019
Nov 22, 2019
Nov 14, 2019
Nov 14, 2019
Nov 13, 2019
Nov 13, 2019
Nov 12, 2019
Nov 12, 2019
Nov 12, 2019
Nov 6, 2019
Oct 21, 2019
Oct 21, 2019
Oct 17, 2019
Oct 15, 2019
Oct 15, 2019
Oct 15, 2019
Oct 4, 2019
Oct 4, 2019
Sep 27, 2019
Sep 27, 2019
Sep 27, 2019
Sep 27, 2019
Sep 25, 2019
Sep 19, 2019
Sep 18, 2019
Sep 10, 2019
Aug 30, 2019
Aug 30, 2019
Aug 30, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 29, 2019
Aug 15, 2019
Aug 2, 2019
Aug 2, 2019
Aug 1, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 12, 2019
Jun 28, 2019
Jun 28, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 2019
Jun 19, 2019
May 31, 2019
May 31, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019
May 23, 2019
May 7, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
May 1, 2019
Mar 29, 2019
Mar 29, 2019
Mar 29, 2019
Mar 29, 2019
Mar 29, 2019
Mar 29, 2019
Mar 20, 2019
Mar 20, 2019
Mar 20, 2019
Mar 20, 2019
Mar 14, 2019
Mar 6, 2019
Feb 25, 2019
Feb 25, 2019
Feb 19, 2019
Feb 19, 2019
Feb 19, 2019
Feb 19, 2019
Feb 15, 2019
Feb 4, 2019
Feb 1, 2019
Feb 1, 2019
Feb 1, 2019
Feb 1, 2019
Jan 24, 2019
Jan 17, 2019
Jan 14, 2019
Jan 11, 2019
Jan 10, 2019
Jan 7, 2019
Dec 17, 2018
Nov 8, 2018
Nov 1, 2018
Oct 30, 2018
Oct 29, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018
Oct 19, 2018