The Financial Services Authority (the “FSA”) has issued the Circular No.11 of 2022 relating to the Annual AML/CFT Compliance Form reporting obligation to all reporting entities (i.e. Securities Dealers).
As per section 13(h) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2020 (“AML/CFT Regulations”), the Compliance Officer of a reporting entity has the responsibility in the discharge of his or her duties under section 34 (2) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, 2020 (“AML/CFT Act”) to ensure the preparation and submission of an annual compliance form to the FSA within 90 days after each calendar year.
The annual compliance form requirement shall:
- Cover as a minimum the areas listed in the Circular by the FSA (14 areas in total) and
- be accompanied by documentation on the identification, assessment and mitigation of ML/TF risks referred to in section 32 (5) of the AML/CFT Act (i.e. the institutional risk assessment) and the Annual AML/CFT Compliance Form which can be accessed through the FSA’s website
Note: The Reporting Period of the abovementioned form means the calendar year, i.e. January 1st to December 31st prior to the required lodging of this Annual AML/CFT Compliance Form. As per the explanatory notes in the form, a Compliance Form lodged within March 2023 will cover the period January 1st 2022 to December 31st 2022.