FICA Self-Assessment (Anti-Money Laundering)

1. Have you checked whether your business falls in Schedule 1 of FICA, and written down the answer?

(FICA Schedule 1)

2. If you are an accountable institution, are you registered with the Financial Intelligence Centre?

Every accountable institution must register with the Centre within the prescribed period and in the prescribed manner. Registration is done online on the FIC's goAML system. (FICA s43B(1))

3. Do you tell the FIC in writing within 90 days when any of your registered details change?

(FICA s43B(4))

4. Have you appointed a compliance officer who is responsible for FICA, with the authority and resources to do the job?

(FICA s42A)

1. Do you have a documented RMCP that sets out how you identify, assess, monitor, mitigate and manage the risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing in your products and services?

(FICA s42(1), (2)(a))

2. Does your RMCP cover how you identify and verify clients, handle politically exposed persons, apply enhanced and simplified due diligence, monitor ongoing relationships, keep records and report to the FIC?

(FICA s42(2))

3. Has the board of directors, or the person or group with the highest authority in the business, approved the RMCP?

(FICA s42(2B))

4. Do you review the RMCP at regular intervals and make it available to the staff who need it?

(FICA s42(2C), (3))

5. Can you give a copy of your RMCP to the FIC or your supervisory body when asked?

(FICA s42(4))

1. When you take on a client, do you establish and verify their identity, and the identity and authority of anyone acting for them or on whose behalf they act, as your RMCP requires?

(FICA s21(1))

2. For clients that are companies, trusts or partnerships, do you identify the people who ultimately own or control them (the beneficial owners)?

Since the 2022 amendments, for a trust this includes the trustees, the founder and the beneficiaries. (FICA s21B)

3. Do you rate each client's money laundering risk and apply more checks to higher-risk clients, including politically exposed persons?

(FICA s21A, s21C, RMCP)

4. Do you keep monitoring existing clients, and update their information as their activity or circumstances change?

(FICA s21C)

5. Do you screen clients against the UN Security Council and other targeted sanctions lists before dealing with them?

(FICA s26B)

1. Do you keep records of the business relationship for at least five years after it ends, and of each transaction for at least five years after it is concluded?

Records tied to a report to the FIC are kept for at least five years from the date the report was submitted. (FICA ss 22, 22A, 23)

2. Do you report to the FIC any cash transaction above the prescribed threshold, within the prescribed period?

Section 28 covers cash paid to or received from a client above a prescribed amount. The amount and the deadline are set by regulation. Check the current figures on the FIC website. (FICA s28)

3. Does everyone who runs or works in your business know they must report knowledge or suspicion of proceeds of crime, terrorist financing, or transactions with no apparent lawful purpose, to the FIC?

Section 29 applies to anyone who carries on a business, manages one or is employed by one. The report must give the grounds for the suspicion and the transaction particulars. (FICA s29(1), (2))

4. Do you keep a suspicious transaction report confidential and never tell the client or anyone else that you have made it, except where the Act allows?

(FICA s29(3), (4))

5. Do you train your staff on FICA and your RMCP, on joining and regularly afterwards, and keep a record of the training?

(FICA s43)

6. Are you ready for an inspection by the FIC or your supervisory body, with your registration, RMCP, client files and training records at hand?

(FICA s45B)