Friday, July 23 2021 15:09

ArmInfo. The updated RA Law "On Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism" will enter into force on July 26 this year. ArmInfo was informed about this in  the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia, explaining that the  law on amendments and additions to the Law on Combating Money  Laundering and Financing of Terrorism was fully adopted on June 30 at  an extraordinary session of the RA National Assembly, and published  on July 16 this year. 

The Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia in its message cites the  main changes made to the law:  1. suspension of suspicious  transactions and business relationships;

2. the circle of persons with political influence has been expanded;

3. the concept of a real beneficiary has been clarified;

4. correction of deficiencies identified during the application of   the law; 

5. Ensuring compliance with the requirements of the FATF   recommendations.

Other insignificant changes of a technical nature have also been  introduced into the law. For more details on the amendments to the  law, see the website of the Central Bank of Armenia:   https://www.cba.am/am/SitePages/FMCNewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=592.

1.   The authority to suspend suspicious transactions and business  relations was transferred from the Council of the Central Bank of the  Republic of Armenia to the Center for Financial Monitoring of the  Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia (CFM). The procedure for  applying the suspension of litigation has also been changed, taking  into account the need to facilitate the further process of initiating  a criminal case and seizing property.

2.   The extended circle of persons with political influence includes  local high-ranking officials, as well as persons with significant  powers in international organizations, members of their families or  persons closely related to them. This category of persons qualifies  for a high risk of money laundering or terrorist financing (ML / TF)  and additional appropriate research is required when entering into  transactions with them or establishing business relationships.

3.   With the clarification of the concept of the real beneficiary,  the necessary steps for identifying and verifying the identity of the  real beneficiary, and the requirements for documenting and preserving  reasonable conclusions, are established for the persons submitting  the report.

4.   A number of changes related to the correction of deficiencies  identified in the course of the application of the law, in  particular, related to the fact that the persons submitting the  report are henceforth prohibited from informing clients or other  persons of information about the receipt of orders from the CFM, the  purpose of which is to ensure the secrecy of the orders of the CFM  and non-disclosure of suspicions third parties.

It also defines the concept of "money transfer" as a transaction  carried out by a financial institution on behalf of the sender of the  transfer, the purpose of which is to ensure the availability of the  recipient to a certain amount in a particular financial institution,  regardless of whether the sender and the recipient are the same  person. The financial institution carrying out the money transfer has  the right to refuse to carry out those transfers that do not meet the  requirements established by law.

Changes and additions related to ensuring compliance of the RA  legislation with international standards are aimed at compliance with  the 1st, 10th, 12th, 13th, 18th, 21st and 25th recommendations of the  FATF (Financial Action Task Force), the content of which allows the  law to fully comply with the lexicon of the FATF methodology.