Financial Crime World

Fiji Takes Steps to Enhance Due Diligence in Financial Transactions

The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) has issued guidelines to enhance due diligence in financial transactions, aimed at combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

Guidelines for Financial Institutions

Suspicious Transaction Reporting

  • Requires financial institutions to monitor customers, transactions, and business relationships
  • Identify and report suspicious transactions
  • Provides detailed guidance on how to identify suspicious transactions and sector-specific examples of indicators of suspicious transactions

Reporting a Suspicious Transaction by Paper

  • Provides guidance on completing a Suspicious Transaction Report form when reporting a suspicious transaction to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)

Additional Guidelines

Cash Transactions above $5,000

Customer Identification and Verification

New Technologies

Higher Risk Countries

Politically Exposed Persons

Real Estate Agents and Businesses

These guidelines provide detailed guidance on how financial institutions can implement anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.

AML Policy Guideline

  • Requires financial institutions licensed to conduct banking business in Fiji to develop a Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Management Framework
  • The framework should include a documented policy outlining their approach to managing money laundering and terrorist financing risk

Objectives of the Guidelines

  • Ensure that financial institutions in Fiji have adequate systems and controls in place to identify and report suspicious transactions, and prevent the misuse of financial services for illicit activities
  • Protect the integrity of the financial system and promote confidence among customers and investors

Implementation and Benefits

By implementing these guidelines, financial institutions in Fiji can demonstrate their commitment to due diligence and AML/CFT compliance, while also contributing to the global effort to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.