Walledo s.r.o. (hereafter referred to as the ‘Platform’) is a small firm incorporated in the Czech Republic, European Union. These anti-money laundering principles are drafted with consideration of the firm size, the Platform customer base and its resources. These anti-money laundering principles will be updated as necessary.
The Platform is not a financial institution. Nevertheless the Platform adheres to the international anti-money laundering principles, European Union anti-money laundering principles and regulation, legislation of the country of incorporation (Act No. 297/2008 Coll.) and relevant principles of other jurisdictions where the Platform may start its operations. The Platform follows the modernised EU regulatory framework, including 4th anti-money laundering Directive and 5th anti-money laundering Directive and the standards (for more details about the EU legal framework, please, visit https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/banking-and-finance/financial-supervision-and -risk-management/anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorist-financing_en)
This anti-money laundering principles are «risk-based». That means that the procedures and internal controls shall be designed to address the risk of money laundering specific to the Platform.
The risk assessment procedure is based on the educated and careful judgement. The risk assessment and risk rating factors include, but not limited to:
– characteristics of customers business;
– other customer’s characteristics relevant for the careful judgement;
– characteristics of the country related to the matter;
– risk assessments released publicly.
Our risk assessment is performed regularly once there is a substantial change of the circumstances of our business or our customers as well as there is the sector-wide risk re-assessments. The review is recorded and revisited regularly.
General principles
The Platform AML Principles are designed to prevent money laundering by meeting the EU AML and other relevant legislation obligations including the need to have adequate systems and controls in place to mitigate the risk of the firm being used to facilitate financial crime. This AML Principles sets out the minimum standards which must be complied with and includes:
- The appointment of a Policy Compliance Manager who has sufficient level of seniority and independence and who has responsibility for oversight of compliance with relevant legislation, regulations, rules and industry guidance;
- Establishing and maintaining a risk based approach towards assessing and managing the money laundering and terrorist financing risks to the company;
- Establishing and maintaining risk-based customer due diligence, identification, verification and know your customer (KYC) procedures,
- Procedures for reporting suspicious activity internally and to the relevant law enforcement authorities as appropriate;
- The maintenance of appropriate records;
- Training and awareness for all relevant employees.
The principles of the Platform are to prohibit and actively prevent money laundering and any activity that facilitates money laundering or the funding of terrorist or criminal activities by complying with the international principles of anti-money laundry, EU principles and principles of relevant jurisdictions.
Money laundering is generally defined as engaging in acts designed to conceal or disguise the true origins of criminally derived proceeds so that the proceeds appear to have derived from legitimate origins or constitute legitimate assets.
The Platform anti-money laundering principles, procedures and internal controls are designed to ensure compliance with all applicable regulations and will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure appropriate policies, procedures and internal controls are in place to account for both changes in regulations and changes in our business.
Anti-money laundering principles person designation and duties
The Signor Manager is designated to perform duties of Policy Compliance Manager. Policy Compliance Manager is vested with full responsibility and authority to ensure enforcement of these anti-money laundering principles. Policy Compliance Manager has a working knowledge of international principles, EU principles and monitors the other relevant jurisdictions anti-money laundering principles.
Policy Compliance Manager is qualified by experience and knowledge in the area of anti-money laundering regulation. The Policy Compliance Manager shall ensure that the firm keeps relevant records and follows necessary procedures in terms of these anti-money laundering principles.
Retention of records and reporting of the information
As a part of our AML program we maintain relevant documentation on customer identity verification and funds transmittals in electronic form. Retention period for the records is updated according to the legal requirements. Average term for record retention is five years. The archiving must be completed in a manner making it available to all the employees having appropriate access to the customer in question.
We will respond to legally binding officially issued and motivated written requests from official authorities within the legal framework concerning accounts and transactions by searching our records to determine whether we maintain or have maintained any information for, or have engaged in any transaction with, each individual, entity or organization properly defined and named in the request.
If no information is found we shall give the relevant answer, maintain documentation about the performed search and keep record of the name of the firm in the request for our risk-based procedures.
We shall protect the security and confidentiality of the requests within the legal framework.
We shall make best efforts to search and share relevant information with financial institutions and answer their motivated written and issued in due course requests based on the anti-money laundering regulation of the relevant jurisdiction.
The information related to money laundering and terrorist financing suspicious shall be provided to Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) and Law Enforcement Authorities (LEA). Reporting of suspicious activity is made to Financial Intelligence Unit in Czech Republic.
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and source of funds identification
We will apply relevant ongoing risk-based measures to verify the identity of each customer and keep necessary records. The updated Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedures shall be performed on the ongoing basis.
In compliance with the updated regulatory framework certain elements of CDD and EDD may be delegated to a duly regulated, supervised, monitored third party which meets the requirements of record keeping and making available all the necessary information upon request. Currently those elements include, but not limited:
– document verification and detailed check;
– data validation;
– compromised persons identification and EDD (sanctions screening, black lists,PEP screening;
– detailed tailored information on specific customers and specific matters according to the risk-based approach.
The information about the third party currently engaged in our CDD and EDD procedures can be provided upon request.
We will collect certain minimum customer identification information from each of our customer before the customer will conduct any transaction:
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| For companies (other entities) |
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The proxies and representatives shall be identified and verified in the same way as the individuals and companies (other entities)
The CDD information is refreshed when the client’s circumstances changed.
For the entities we shall identify the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO). Beneficial ownership information of legal persons should be determined as follows:
Step 1:
(a) verification of the identity of the persons who ultimately have a controlling ownership interest in a legal person,
(b) to the extent that there is doubt as to whether the persons with the controlling ownership interest are the beneficial owners, or where no natural person exerts control through ownership interests, verification of the identity of the natural persons (if any) exercising control of the legal person through other means.
Step 2:
Where no natural person is identifiable who ultimately owns or controls legal entity – senior managing officials are to be considered beneficial owners and verification of their identity shall be performed.
The test of beneficial ownership and the level of beneficial interest will include three elements. These elements are:
- who owns more than 25 percent of the customer
- who has effective control of the customer
- the persons on whose behalf a transaction is conducted
The characteristics of the customers business may suggest that the customer (individual or entity) has its underlying clients who are the beneficial owners of the funds. In this case we require that our customer provides CDD information and documents on its underlying clients that are the beneficial owners of the funds. This may be additionally ensured by including relevant provisions in the contract or by sample-testing the customer’s ability to provide relevant CDD information upon request.
In order to ensure that the purchase of our services is reasonable we shall require our customers to provide information on the source of funds. The customer is required to send us declaration on sources of funds. The declaration will be assessed with supporting documents provided by the customer. The customer may provide any document he finds convenient including: employer’s certificate, other certificates, tax returns, cash flow statements etc. List is illustrative and not exhaustive. Large single premiums or lump sums, gains or windfall profits should be backed by documentation to establish source of funds.
We may ask the customer to provide more information about the source of funds or additional documents according to our risk-based approach.
All the new customers and other customers shall be categorized and re-categorizen on the ongoing basis as:
– low risk (including, but not limited to banks, publicly listed companies or public bodies, their wholly owned subsidiaries);
– standard risk (including, but not limited to individuals and entities without any particular or special risk-factors);
– high risk individuals and entities in certain circumstances (including, but not limited to PEP, complex and unusual transactions, with no apparent economic or legal purpose). Enhanced Due Diligence procedures may be applicable.
Customer Acceptance and Restriction Policy
We require from our customers information relevant and necessary to identify them. If a potential or existing customer either refuses to provide the information when requested or intentionally provides misleading information our firm will not enter in deals with it and, after considering the risks involved, we may close existing deals and/or business transactions.
By using risk-based procedures we will consider the accuracy of the information we get about our customers. Our Policy Compliance Manager will analyse the information and determine whether the information is sufficient to form a reasonable belief that we know the identity of the customer.
If we cannot form this reasonable belief we will:
- deny the customer’s request of our services or
- impose terms under which a customer may conduct transactions while we attempt to verify the customer’s identity or
- terminate all the deals and business transactions after attempts to verify customer’s identity fail.
Correspondent accounts for Foreign Shell Banks
We will identify foreign bank accounts and any such account that is a correspondent account for foreign shell banks by our risk-based approach and analysis of the information provided by customers.
Upon finding or suspecting such accounts, our employees will notify the Policy Compliance Manager, who will verify and analyse the information, request additional information or terminate if necessary relevant transactions or business relations. We will also make the best efforts to identify correspondent accounts that we have determined is not maintained by a foreign shell bank but is being used to provide services to such a shell bank.
Enhanced Customers Due Diligence
In compliance with the updated regulatory framework certain elements of CDD and EDD are delegated to a duly regulated, supervised, monitored third party which meet the requirements of record keeping and making available all the necessary information upon request.
In terms of EDD the third party provides the information on compromised persons identification and EDD (sanctions screening, black lists,PEP screening etc.) We ensure that the EDD is performed on the ongoing basis and reviewed regularly.
All natural persons defined as politically exposed persons (PEPs) according to relevant legislation are identified and registered in the records as such, a PEP screening process is conducted when natural persons are on-boarded. The EDD is particularly prescribed for the PEP
According to these principles and risk approach the following sanctions measures are taken into consideration:
- The United Nations (UN) Security Council consolidated sanctions list;
- The EU’s consolidated list of persons, groups and entities;
- The US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions lists;
- The US Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) list;
- The UK HM Treasury (HMT), Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, “consolidated list of targets”.
The Platform does not open or maintain private banking accounts and does not provide any similar financial products. We still make a general review of public information to identify senior political figures in relevant jurisdictions. Once any binding and legally justified lists of suspected terrorists have been issued by relevant authorities we shall use that information in our risk-based identification process.
Transactions monitoring
We perform the ongoing monitoring of the transactions. The main purpose of ongoing monitoring is to check if the transactions remain consistent with what is known about the client. If there is a long gap between the transactions we may refresh the CDD and EDD information. The ongoing monitoring of the transactions may be undertaken by the third party to which we delegated certain elements of CDD and EDD.
Training programs
We have ongoing employee training under leadership of our Policy Compliance Manager and senior management. Our training occurs on at least annual basis. It is based on our firm size, its customer base and its resources and will be updated as necessary to reflect any new development of the anti-money laundering principles and regulations.
Senior Management (committee) Approval
Senior management has approved these anti-money laundering principles in writing as reasonably designed to achieve and monitor our small firm’s ongoing compliance with the requirements of the international, EU anti-money laundering principles and principles of relevant jurisdictions. This approval is indicated by signatures below:
Mr. Manuel Odifreddi
Title: Managing Director of Walledo s.r.o.
Date: 01 July 2022