AML Compliance Form Approved. Mandatory submission by April 1, 2022
On November 5, the Office for Prevention and Fight against Money Laundering (OPFML) published its Order no. 5 concerning the approval and filling in the first Compliance Form in the field of AML.
The Compliance Form is statistical radiography on reporting entity’s compliance with the requirements of legislation on preventing and fighting money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of mass destruction weapons.
The purpose of this measure is, on the one hand, to make all reporting entities accountable for AML’s obligations, and on the other hand, to accumulate and analyze data about reporting entities and their activities in order to initiate AML compliance verifications by OPFML.
Omission to present the Form to the OPFML is a breach sanctioned under art. 54 of Law 75/2020 on AML/TF infringements investigation procedure and means of sanction application. The fines can be very discouraging spanning from 4 500 MDL to 50 000 MDL applied to the individual employee, the person in charge, the person with a senior management position within the reporting entity, and from 50 000 MDL up to 5 000 000 MDL applied to the reporting entities.
The process of completing and submitting the Compliance Form by April 1, 2022, must be treated responsibly and professionally by each reporting entity.
In order to complete correctly and professionally the mentioned Form, each reporting entity provided in art. 4 of Law 308/2017 on prevention and combating money laundering and terrorism financing, shall comply with a number of requirements:
1. To have a reliable AML Program;
2. To assess, periodically, the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in the light of the three criteria (customer, geographical, and product/service);
3. To maintain a statistic on each customer due to the applied diligence measures;
4. To elaborate the list of PEPs and identified beneficial owners;
5. To know the reasons and clients with whom the business relationships were terminated in the context of AML requirements;
6. To maintain correct communication with OPFML representatives to exclude possible suspicions.
This process is new, complex, and may require the involvement of professional expertise.
Bivol Soțchi & Partners provides consulting and training services on completing the AML Compliance Form. These services are provided with the implication and support of Adrian Corcimari and Mihail Soțchi, both certified experts by specialized international organizations and with a solid background in the field of AML/CFT
For additional information or consultation please contact us by phone:
+373 22 855 559 or by e-mail: contact@bsp.md.