Specific regulations issued by the FSA on the prevention and combat of money laundering and terrorist financing
On December 10th, 2019, it was published with the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, No. 991, the Regulations No. 13/2019 regarding the measures to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing through the financial sectors supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority (the “ASF Regulations”).
The implementation of the ASF Regulations by the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (“FSA”), is grounded on the obligation provided under the Law No. 129/2019 on the prevention and combat of money laundering and terrorist financing (the “AML Law”), as main piece of legislation which has transposed within the Romanian legal framework the Directive (EU) No. 2015/849, issued by the European Parliament and Council, on May 20th, 2015, on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The implementation of the ASF Regulations within the Romanian legal framework was grounded also on certain mandatory regulations issued by the European Banking Authority, European Securities and Markets Authority and by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authorities.
Among the most relevant aspects regulated under the ASF Regulations, we should mention the following
- Aspects relating to the appointment of the compliance officers and of the persons responsible with the prevention and combat of money laundering and terrorism financing;
- Specific regulations on the activity of supervision and control based on the risk performed by the FSA on the prevention and combat of money laundering and terrorism financing;
- Specific guidelines on risk factors relating to money laundering / financing terrorism, as well as the precautionary measures to be taken regarding the clientele for different categories of regulated entities; or
- Provisions regarding the discovery of the circumstances that represent violations of the legal provisions relating to the prevention and combat of money laundering and terrorist financing, consequently the application of the measures and sanctions in accordance with the legal regulations in force.
The ASF Regulations were published in the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, No. 991, dated December 10th, 2019 and are currently in force with full legal effect.