Judicial Debate Rages Over Asset Confiscation in San Marino

A contentious issue has emerged in San Marino regarding the confiscation of assets previously seized as part of a criminal investigation. The dispute centers on the “by equivalent value” approach, with recent decisions from the Court of Appeal significantly reducing the amounts confiscated by initial judges.

Background

The repatriation of assets seized abroad is also being sought, while the confiscation results reflect the assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks and national anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policies and priorities. Improvements can still be made in managing seized and confiscated assets.

Threat Level Assessment

San Marino has deemed the threat level for terrorist financing to be “low” based on an exhaustive analysis of ML requests, suspicious transaction reports (STRs), cases, and funds flowing from high-risk jurisdictions. While there have been no prosecutions or convictions for TF, the country uses various tools and techniques to prevent and detect possible TF offending.

Efforts Against Terrorist Financing

The Committee for Restrictive Measures has been established to coordinate efforts in combating TF, while banks and other financial institutions use robust systems to screen clients against UN designations and detect funds. However, some financial institutions lack the ability to analyze and independently decide on cases of partial matches with TFS-related lists.

Risk Assessment

A dedicated survey on non-profit organizations (NPOs) found that they may be vulnerable to TF abuse, but the overall risk assessment is considered “low.” A risk-based approach has been implemented for these NPOs, although some lack knowledge on their respective TFS obligations and risks.

Targeted Financial Sanctions

San Marino also applies targeted financial sanctions (TFS) to persons designated by the UN in relation to proliferation financing (PF) and PF-related obligations are supervised similarly to those for TF. While no parties have been identified as posing a PF threat, measures are in place to freeze assets without delay.

Private Sector Awareness

The private sector is generally aware of the need to implement measures to freeze assets, although understanding of freezing obligations varies among sectors. The Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) has conducted on-site interviews with representatives from various industries and identified areas for improvement.

Source: [Insert source of article, e.g. “Financial Intelligence Agency Report”]