Shqipëria Posted on 2025-01-30 13:25:00

How will suspicious transactions be tracked? - Cases when reported/ Banks and currency exchange points create risk profiles for customers

From Elisabeta Dosku

How will suspicious transactions be tracked? - Cases when reported/ Banks and

Banking and non-banking institutions, savings and credit societies or currency exchange points are obliged to track and report any suspicious transactions. The Ministry of Finance's instruction sets out the rules and procedures that these entities must follow, in order to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

Despite the due diligence measures they currently take, entities must go beyond and are obliged to create a customer risk profile to understand the purpose and nature of the transaction. The risk profile serves entities to determine and implement due diligence and enhanced customer vigilance measures.

According to the guidance, if entities are unable to comply with customer due diligence obligations: they should not open an account, start a business relationship or conduct transactions and should send a suspicious activity report to the responsible authority.

Entities must implement policies and take appropriate measures, as appropriate, to identify and assess the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing related to new product developments, business practices, delivery methods or distribution channels; the use of new or emerging technologies.

On the other hand, enhanced vigilance should include additional measures, in addition to those provided for due diligence, for high-risk business relationships, customers or transactions.

In this case, entities must understand and test the profile of the client, the business and its activity in relation to the services, products and transactions offered by the entity; identify relevant information and assess the potential risk of money laundering/terrorist financing, in support of decisions aimed at protecting against financial, regulatory or reputational risks, as well as adapting to legal requirements.

The instruction stipulates that enhanced vigilance applies to certain categories of businesses, to politically exposed persons, to NGOs, to business relationships or transactions involving high-risk countries; to complex transactions, with unusually high values, without apparent economic and legal purpose.

Subjects submit a report to the responsible authority, in which they state their suspicions regarding cases where they know or suspect that laundering of proceeds of crime or financing of terrorism, or funds derived from criminal activity, is being carried out, has been carried out or is being attempted. The reporting is done using the (RAD) form immediately and no later than 72 hours. Subjects are also obliged to report transactions with a value higher than 1 million lek, carried out as a single transaction or in several transactions related to each other within 24 hours.

 

 

 

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