• 08.02.2018

Yesterday, members of the Financial Services Committee met to listen and to discuss with representatives of the Prevention and Anti – Money Laundering Service (SPCSB) discuss the draft of the Suspicious Transactions Guidelines. The meeting was also attended by the EU High-Level Advisor, Mr. Igoris Krzeckovskis.

The main ideas highlighted by the speakers were shaped around the fact that unlike the current version of the Guidelines (which as it stands follows a “compulsory approach”) the new one will serve only as a recommendation for reporting entities to develop their internal AML programs, in alignment with international best practices.

This will provide companies with greater flexibility, and is aimed at diminishing the number of transactions that need to be reported to the agency.
Another innovative approach of the Guidelines relies on the fact that unlike the previous one, it will not contain lists of suspicious countries; but will instead provide links to internationally recognized lists, meaning the reporting entity will have to consult a series of web pages.

One of the dedicated topics of the discussion was related to the Politically Exposed Person (PEP), and the possibility to elaborate on a list of PEPs by ensuring an institutional partnership with the National Integrity Agency. The SPCSB ensured that they will also analyze this opportunity.