Financial Crime World

Banking Compliance Procedures in Dominican Republic: A Guide

The Dominican Republic has implemented a robust system to prevent, detect, and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The National Committee against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing this process.

Key Authorities

  • Public Ministry
  • Financial Analysis Unit (UAF), attached as a unit of the Ministry of Finance
  • National Directorate for Drug Control
  • Monetary Board
  • General Directorate of Internal Taxes
  • General Directorate of Customs
  • Directorate of Casinos and Gaming
  • Cooperative Development and Credit Institute
  • Superintendents: Insurance, Banks, Securities, Pension Fund, Private Security

Financial Analysis Unit (UAF)

The UAF is an autonomous entity that exercises the technical secretary of the National Committee against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. Its main task is to analyze, identify, and submit financial analysis reports to the Public Ministry regarding possible infractions of money laundering, previous infractions, and the financing of terrorism.

Compliance with AML/CFT Regulations

Financial and non-financial regulated entities are obligated to constantly evaluate and intensify their compliance efforts against money laundering and terrorist financing activities. For those entities without a compliance program in place, they must develop one that includes:

  • Evaluation of money laundering and terrorist financing risks
  • Capability to manage and mitigate risk
  • Client due diligence or enhanced due diligence
  • Continued monitoring
  • Maintenance of transaction registries
  • Designation of a compliance officer with determined functions and responsibilities

AML/CTF Reporting Obligations

In the Dominican Republic, regulated entities must report Suspicious Operations to the UAF within five business days after the transaction occurred or was attempted. Suspicious Operations are defined as those transactions carried out or not, complex, unusual, significant, as well as all patterns of unusual transactions or non-significant but periodic transactions that do not have an obvious economic or legal basis, or that generate a suspicion of being involved in money laundering, some preceding offence, or in the financing of terrorism.