Financial Crime World

Company Service Providers Face Scrutiny Over FATF-Designated Activities

New Legislation Introduced to Regulate DNFBPs

A new legislation has been introduced to regulate company service providers, including lawyers and other designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), over their involvement in activities designated by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Key Requirements for DNFBPs

  • Conduct customer due diligence (CDD) and maintain accurate records of clients
  • Mandate training on CDD obligations to ensure compliance
  • Obtain and verify CDD identification without a threshold for over-the-counter exchange dealers, including casinos
  • Adhere to full requirements of FATF Recommendations 5-6, 8-11

Suspicious Transaction Reporting

DNFBPs will be required to:

  • Conduct regular checks for unusual activity
  • Report any suspicious transactions to the relevant authorities

Regulation, Supervision, Monitoring, and Sanctions

Each DNFBP sector will have a designated AML/CFT supervisory authority with:

  • Adequate legal authority
  • Resources
  • Capacity to monitor and enforce compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) requirements

Awareness-Raising Training for DNFBPs

All operating DNFBPs will undergo awareness-raising training on AML/CFT requirements to ensure they understand their obligations.

Other Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions

The legislation encourages the use of secure transfer systems to reduce reliance on cash transactions. It also requires:

  • Legal persons and arrangements to provide accurate and current information on beneficial ownership and control structure
  • Non-profit organizations (NPOs) to undergo a review of their laws affecting NPOs, as well as an audit program targeting higher-risk NPOs identified from the review

National and International Cooperation

The legislation ensures that:

  • The Money Laundering Working Group meets regularly to coordinate policy cooperation
  • Mechanisms are set up for operational cooperation with other countries
  • The country has committed to signing and ratifying the Palermo and Vienna Conventions, as well as implementing all provisions of these Conventions

Mutual legal assistance will be allowed for:

  • Identification, tracing, and freezing of property relating to financial terrorism (FT)
  • All FATF-designated predicate offenses to provide a wide range of mutual legal assistance for money laundering/financial terrorism

Extradition

The legislation criminalizes all FATF-designated predicate offenses to allow for the extradition of individuals involved in money laundering.

Other Forms of Cooperation

The country has committed to entering into formal agreements with other countries to:

  • Coordinate seizing and confiscation actions
  • Determine the best venue for prosecutions of defendants in cases subject to prosecution in more than one country

Resources and Statistics

The legislation also provides for resources and statistics related to AML/CFT efforts.