Anti-Money Laundering Act in Finland: Responsibilities of Operators
Customer Due Diligence
As an operator in Finland, it is essential to understand the importance of customer due diligence (CDD) in preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. CDD involves verifying the identity of customers and understanding their business activities.
Key Responsibilities:
- Know Your Customers: Identify, verify identity from official documents, representors, beneficial owners (25% share or voting rights), and run background checks.
- Document Retention: Keep CDD documents for at least 5 years after the end of each customer relationship or transaction.
- Enhanced Due Diligence: Perform enhanced due diligence if:
- Risk assessment identifies high-risk customers or transactions
- Customers have links to high-risk countries outside EEA
- Non-face-to-face identification
- Politically exposed persons (PEPs) or closely related individuals
Prevention of Money Laundering
As an operator, you must monitor customer activity for suspicious transactions and report them to the authorities.
Key Responsibilities:
- Transaction Monitoring: Monitor customer activity for suspicious transactions.
- Origin of Funds: Check the origin of funds involved in suspicious transactions.
- Reporting Suspicious Transactions: Report suspicious transactions to the National Bureau of Investigation’s Financial Intelligence Unit.
Beneficial Owners and PEPs
It is essential to identify beneficial owners and verify their identity, as they may be involved in money laundering or terrorist financing activities.
Key Responsibilities:
- Beneficial Owner Identification: Identify beneficial owners (25% share or voting rights) and verify their identity.
- Definition of Beneficial Ownership: Assume beneficial ownership includes board members, general partners, managing directors, etc., if not possible to identify based on holdings or voting rights.
- PEPs Definition: Define politically exposed persons (PEPs) as individuals holding important public positions.
Prevention of Terrorist Financing
As an operator, you must comply with laws on sanctions and freezing of funds and monitor customer activity for signs of terrorist financing.
Key Responsibilities:
- Sanctions Compliance: Compliance with laws on sanctions and freezing of funds is key.
- Transaction Monitoring: Monitor customer activity for signs of terrorist financing.
- Reporting Suspicious Transactions: Report suspicious transactions to the National Bureau of Investigation’s Financial Intelligence Unit.
Additional Requirements
In some cases, you may need to take additional steps to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
Key Responsibilities:
- Freezing Orders: If a customer is subject to a freezing order or financial sanction, stop any transactions in progress and report to the Helsinki Enforcement Office.