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Anti-money laundering
Regulation on the Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing requires Banks to establish effective policies and procedures to develop financial activity in accordance with current regulations, the most advanced international standards and the recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in this matter.
In Spain, Law 10/2010 of 28 April on the Prevention of Money Laundering and its implementing regulations establish the obligations that reporting parties must comply with in relation to their corporate purpose or activity.
Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing is a strategic objective for the Bankinter Group. This is an ethical commitment to society as a whole, involving compliance with international standards and best practices in this area. To this end, it has defined a control framework for its policies for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, and for compliance with international financial sanction programmes, control procedures and the corporate governance framework. These are collected in the Manual of Policies and Procedures for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
Definitions
For the purposes of this control framework, the following definitions are established:
Money laundering
For the purposes of Act 10/2010, of 28 April, the following activities are considered to be money laundering:
- The conversion or transfer of assets, knowing that these assets are derived from criminal activity or from having taken part in criminal activity, for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illegal origin of the assets or of assisting persons involved in evading the legal consequences of their actions.
- The hiding or concealment of the nature, origin, location, availability, movement or beneficial ownership of assets or rights over assets, knowing that these assets are derived from criminal activity or from participation in criminal activity.
- The acquisition, possession or use of assets, knowing, at the time they are received, that they are the product of criminal activity or from participation in criminal activity.
- Participation in any of the activities mentioned in the previous points, forming an association to commit such acts, attempts to perpetrate them and helping, instigating or advising someone to carry them out or assist in executing them.
Financing of terrorism
This consists of the supply, deposit, distribution or collection of funds, by any means, directly or indirectly with the intention of using them, in whole or in part, to commit terrorism.
International financial sanctions
Mechanisms to combat offences related to money laundering, the financing of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and others derived from foreign policy. Financial sanctions are restrictions on activity with specific countries, governments, companies, individuals and industries imposed by organisations, groups of countries or individual countries.
Main aspects of the policy for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism and its control framework
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Risk assessment and management
Periodic review of the risk profile and the exposure and identification of the AML/TF risk factors and elements which the bank faces in relation to business relationships; customer characteristics; countries and geographic areas; products and services; activity or occupation; channels; and operations.
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Establishment of internal policies and procedures
Establishment of internal policies and procedures that comply thoroughly with all legal requirements and best practices pertaining to the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
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Customer segmentation, identification and knowledge of the customer
Customers are classified according to their risk, taking into account their banking behaviour as well as defined risk patterns and scenarios, so that we can apply due diligence measures based on a range of money laundering risk factors and perform the necessary controls for customers with a higher level of AML/TF risk.
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Establishing prohibited customers
Customers who do not have the necessary information to comply with current regulations or who are in any of the following categories of prohibited customers will not be accepted:
- People included in any of the official lists of sanctions and criminal activities in general.
- People whose identification, legitimacy of their activity or the origin of their funds cannot be verified.
- People who refuse to provide the required information or documentation.
- Legal entities whose ownership or control structure and/or real owner cannot be determined.
- Financial institutions resident in countries or territories where they do not have a physical presence (shell banks).
- Money transfer institutions, currency exchange, gaming entities that are not officially authorised.
- Companies dedicated to the exchange of bitcoins
- Others included in the list of prohibited customers that are part of the customer acceptance policies identified in the AML/TF Procedures Manual.
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Establishment of customers who require pre-authorisation
Establishment of customers who require authorisation before being accepted by the internal control body for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing or by the specialised bodies or units delegated to do so. The following customers require this authorisation:
- Politically exposed persons (PEPs), being people who hold or have held public positions under the terms established in the current regulations, as well as their relatives or close friends, being applicable both nationally or internationally.
- Customers related to the production or distribution of weapons, explosives and other similar products.
- Duly authorised casinos or gambling entities.
- Money transfer institutions, exchange institutions, money transmitters and other similar institutions.
- Others.
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Non-face-to-face relationships
The provisions of prevailing legislation are applied in non-face-to-face business relationships. Procedures and controls have been put in place for customer registration through remote channels (telephone banking and internet) and the establishment of business relationships, in accordance with the procedures and policies in the AML/CTF Procedures Manual.
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Operational analysis and control
Under the current legislation it is mandatory to detect operations, conduct, behaviour, transactions and activities likely to be linked to money laundering or, as the case may be, to the financing of terrorism or any other criminal activity as part of the ongoing monitoring of the business relationship. The detection of suspected money laundering and/or terrorist financing operations can be carried out in several ways and leads to a review, analysis and communication process, if applicable, in accordance with the established requirements.
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Communication of suspicious operations and systematic communication of operations.
Compliance with the communication duties required by current regulations and collaboration with the competent authorities.
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Financial sanctions policy.
Efficient policies and procedures are in place to effectively comply with the restrictions established in the international financial sanctions and countermeasures programmes.
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Correspondent banking
The main purpose of the correspondent banking network is to provide a service in third countries where the bank does not have a physical presence, providing a counterparty for the flows associated with commercial and financial transactions and in transfer and payment operations. The process for establishing and monitoring correspondent relationships involves a series of requirements that ensure the reliability of the counterparty and their compliance with regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing. The bank must ensure it has a degree of on-going knowledge of the correspondent entity.
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AML/TF training.
The bank has an annual training programme in the field of AML/TF that covers all employees and a network of agents, conducting specialised training for certain areas that control and manage customers with higher than average risk.
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Document storage
All documents obtained or generated in due diligence and regulatory compliance measures will be kept for 10 years in line with the applicable legislation.
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Internal and external verification
Internal Audit periodically reviews AML/TF activities and procedures as defined in its annual plan and, as per the prevailing legislation, once a year an external expert reviews the internal control measures associated with the AML/TF risk management processes.
The Bank has established an internal organisation based on a model with three lines of defence that has defined its functions and responsibilities for compliance with the control framework regarding the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. This organisation comprises:
First Line of defence
The business and support units provide our first line of defence. They are responsible for managing, monitoring and reporting risks correctly. All risks must comply with the Risk Appetite Framework and the authorised risk limits and powers. Their functions include complying with the policies and procedures for anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism.Second line of defence
The Money Laundering Prevention unit is a specialist control and supervision team forming part of the Control and Compliance division. It is responsible for ensuring compliance with the policies and procedures adopted by the bank to prevent money laundering through the centrally implemented control and monitoring framework.Third line of defence
The internal audit function regularly and independently evaluates the control policies and procedures, as well as the effectiveness of the management of the money laundering and terrorist financing prevention system.The mission of the Internal Control department (OCI) is to ensure compliance with the policies established by the entity in this area, which constitute the Bankinter Group's prevention framework. The OCI reports to the Risk and Compliance Committee on a regular basis. It is made up of members of senior management and representatives of the Group's various business units and control areas.
The OCI must monitor the Bank's AML/CTF risks and ensure that measures are taken as necessary to mitigate them effectively, adopting the policies and procedures required to exercise its functions.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing unit reports to the Internal Control department. Its aim is to guarantee adequate detection, management, control and monitoring of the risks arising from money laundering and terrorist financing, and compliance with all related legislation.
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