Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism in North Macedonia

Exemptions

Certain entities are exempt from applying the law’s provisions if they make money remittances in accordance with the law. These exemptions include:

• Sole proprietors
• Natural persons carrying out a business activity on their own

Risk Assessment and Measures

Entities subject to the law must conduct a risk assessment of money laundering and financing of terrorism and take measures to prevent these activities, including:

• Client due diligence
• Information submission, storage, and protection of records
• Appointment of an authorized person
• Internal control
• Others (Articles 7-8)

Notification and Decision

If circumstances change during the validity period of a decision granting exemption from applying the law’s provisions, entities must notify the Office within 15 days. The Office may adopt a new decision to annul the previous one (Article 6).

Suspicious Transaction Reporting

The law does not specify an exact amount for suspicious activity reporting. However, entities must introduce and apply programs for efficient reduction and management of identified risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism (Article 8). This implies that entities should have in place systems to monitor and report transactions exceeding a certain threshold or those that appear suspicious.

Implementation

In practice, this may involve setting up internal policies and procedures for reporting suspicious transactions, as well as training employees on these protocols. The specific amount or criteria for triggering a suspicious transaction report (STR) may vary depending on the entity’s risk assessment and internal controls.