Financial Crime World

TUNISIA’S FINANCIAL CRIME REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

In January 2019, Tunisia introduced new regulations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Businesses operating in the country must adhere to these rules, which include stringent customer screening, identity verification, and reporting of suspicious transactions.

UNDERSTANDING THE REGULATIONS

The Tunisian Financial Analysis Committee (CTAF) has provided guidelines for businesses to follow. These requirements apply to both natural and legal persons operating within Tunisia. Key aspects of the regulations include:

  • Client identification: Businesses must verify the identity of their customers, including full name and address.
  • Due diligence: Companies must conduct thorough due diligence on their customers, including enhanced due diligence (EDD) for politically exposed persons (PEPs).
  • Document verification: Businesses must verify the authenticity of government-issued identity documents.

BEST PRACTICES FOR IDENTITY VERIFICATION

To ensure regulatory compliance, businesses can adopt various methods to verify the identity of their clients’ customers. These include:

  1. End-user identity verification: Independent-sourced document verification services.
  2. Document verification: Specialized services to guarantee the validity of submitted identity documents.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR VERIFICATION

The following documents serve as proof of identity and address in Tunisia:

  • Identity cards
  • Driving licenses
  • Passports

TIMING OF VERIFICATION

Identity verification is not a one-time process but a requirement at multiple stages, including upon onboarding a new customer and during specific transactions.

PEPs AND EDD MEASURES

Businesses must determine if their customers are PEPs or hold public offices in Tunisia. Shufti Pro’s AML Screening service aids in fulfilling these obligations by screening individual ID attributes against global regulatory authorities’ watchlists, foreign and domestic databases, compromised PEPs, and sanctioned individuals.

RELANCE ON EXTERNAL SERVICES

Though not explicitly regulated, businesses may choose to rely on third-party services like Shufti Pro for fulfilling AML and KYC obligations. The ultimate responsibility for regulatory compliance lies with the client.

RECORD RETENTION

Businesses in Tunisia are required to retain data for a minimum of ten years under the Tunisian Act. In cases where the information is processed, collected, and managed by a third party, businesses are responsible for collecting all necessary due diligence data from the third party without undue delay.