COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING & TERRORIST FINANCING

The Republic of Mauritius has joined in the efforts of the international community to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Mauritius has adhered to the forty Recommendations of The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and to the nine special terrorist financing Recommendations. Further, Mauritius committed itself to the United Nations Minimum Performance Standards agreed at the Global Programme against Money Laundering Plenary held in Cayman Islands in October 2000.

APPLICABLE LAWS IN MAURITIUS

• The Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2002 (FIAMLA) and subsequent Regulations.
• The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002 and The Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism Act 2003.
• The Prevention of Corruption Act 2002.

ENTITIES INVOLVED

• Supervision: The Bank of Mauritius (The Central Bank).
• Reporting: The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU – a member of The EGMONT Group).
• Enforcement: The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC – created under The Prevention of Corruption Act 2002).

OBLIGATIONS OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

It is a criminal offence for financial institutions in Mauritius to fail to take measures to prevent their institutions or the services their institutions offer from being used to commit or to facilitate the commission of money laundering and terrorist financing.

MCB’S MISSION STATEMENT

It is MCB’s objective to make a positive contribution towards the combat against money laundering and terrorist financing by having an effective Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing (AML/ATF) programme in place, including staff training, to detect, investigate, track and report potential money laundering activity within its products and services.

Pursuant to the provisions of the FIAMLA, the Regulations made under this Act and the Guidance Notes from the Bank of Mauritius, the MCB has complied with the following obligations:

• To have procedures in place to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
• To ensure that neither the bank nor any service or product offered by it is capable of being used by a person to commit or facilitate money laundering.
• To set up procedures for verifying clients’ identity and address.
• To keep records and documents of evidence of identity and transactions for 10 years.
• To set up internal reporting procedures for suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing and external reporting to the FIU.
• To appoint a Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) [August 2003]
• To provide relevant employees with regular and mandatory training in the recognition and handling of suspicious transactions.
• To have sufficient Know Your Customer (KYC) information on file to be able to demonstrate that the bank and its employees know their customers.

MCB’s AML/ATF POLICY

Consequently, MCB has implemented a framework which ensures that:

• The bank adheres to all laws, Regulations and Guidelines regarding AML/ATF
• The identities and addresses of applicants for business and customers are verified and sufficient information gathered and recorded to permit the bank to know its customers

For example:

Retail

1. Identity verification (original National Identity Card, Passport)
2. Address verification (original utility bills)
3. Face to face interview
4. Bank reference required in case of non-face to face application for business
5. Source of income

Corporate

1. Certificate of incorporation
2. Board Resolution
3. Authorised signatories
4. Business activity (current and expected)
5. Directors’ National Identity Card and address verification
6. Enquiries to ensure that the entity is not in the process of being dissolved

Correspondent Banking Accounts

• Existence of bank check with the home country’s Central Bank or relevant supervisory body
• Checking with another office; correspondent bank in same country
• Obtaining evidence of the correspondent bank license and its ownership structure
• Checking the Banker’s Almanac; the bank’s annual reports and its AML/KYC procedures
• Further, MCB does not deal with banks that have no physical presence in any country, i.e shell banks
• Third parties have no authority to debit MCB’s correspondents banking accounts

MISCELLANEOUS AML/ATF POLICY

• Potential new relationships that appear suspicious are declined
• Transactions offered by non-account holders that do not appear legitimate are declined
• Any relationship – even a long-established one – is terminated when conduct gives rise to suspicion of involvement with illegal activities
• Established relationships are regularly monitored especially in respect of large or abnormal transactions
• Complete information for outgoing and incoming electronic funds transfer (EFT) instructions, including sender and beneficiary names, addresses, account number and purpose
• No payable-through accounts are offered
• No anonymous accounts are opened
• Accurate and complete records are kept
• All suspicions are promptly reported, or as soon as practical, to the MLRO and to the FIU
• Co-operation with reporting and law enforcement agencies is achieved to the extent permitted by law, without breaching customer confidentiality
• Politically exposed persons are identified
• Management and staff are regularly trained
• The bank’s AML/ATF programme and adherence to its AML/ATF policy are independently assessed

CUSTOMER ACCEPTANCE POLICY (CAP)

We are currently in the process of formalising our CAP, based on lower risk factors and higher risk factors, taking into account clients’ business products and services. 

MONITORING OF ACCOUNTS

Our procedures for monitoring account activity of retail, private banking, and corporate accounts are automated. The bank has acquired an AML software package from a world known provider for the detection, monitoring and reporting of unusual and/or suspicious transactions.

REGULATORY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

• Manual and electronic internal reporting to the MLRO
• Manual and electronic external reporting to the FIU

LIMITATION OF LARGE CASH TRANSACTIONS

There is a limitation of payment in cash above Rs 350,000

THE ROLE OF THE AML/FRAUD PREVENTION BUSINESS UNIT

The implementation of the MCB’s AML/ATF policy rests with this BU which falls under the direct supervision of the MLRO/Head of Operational Risk Strategic BU. The latter reports to the Head of Risk Management who is accountable to the Board of Directors.

ROLE: to facilitate the management of the bank’s AML/ATF policy and the prevention of ML/TF and fraud by:

• Setting standards to cover such issues
• Advising line management of the impact of AML/ATF laws and regulations
• Developing procedures to ensure compliance with all AML/ATF laws and regulations and keeping them up to date
• Assisting line management in the conduct of AML/fraud alert management
• Maintaining good relations with the regulator, the reporting and the law enforcement agencies
• Maintaining adherence to AML/ATF policies, standards and procedures
• Ensuring that appropriate AML monitoring systems are in place
• Ensuring that all relevant personnel within the bank have an adequate level of AML/ATF understanding

AML/ATF TRAINING PROGRAMMES

• E-Learning
• Face-to-face

OVERSEAS SUBSIDIARIES

Our banking subsidiaries located outside Mauritius (i.e Malagasy Republic, Mozambique and Seychelles) are subject to their respective AML/ATF legislations. 

However, MCB endeavours to foster in these subsidiaries AML/ATF best practices.

OUR CONTACT DETAILS

Our contact details pertaining to any questions on our bank’s AML/ATF programme and KYC requirements are as follows:

Name: Mr. Clifford Allet

Position: Manager - AML / Fraud Management

Address: 6th Floor – MCB Centre, Sir William Newton Street, Port Louis

Email: clifford.allet@mcb.co.mu