The two functions Compliance and Anti-ML & TF Compliance are performed by the AML Compliance Officer (MLRO). The AML Compliance Officers carry out their functions independent from the activities and services that they monitor. The AML Compliance Officers report directly to the Board of Directors.
The Compliance function holds the following responsibilities:
Staff who handle or are managerially responsible for handling transactions which may involve money laundering will be made aware of:
All members of staff will have access to the Laws and any relevant Guidelines and will receive periodic training in addition to the information provided in this document. This is expected to include seminars organised by the Compliance Officer. Employees should ensure that they regularly update their knowledge of these procedures given the seriousness of the consequences of breaching the Act and the Regulations.
There is a statutory and regulatory obligation on all staff to report information which comes to their attention, which gives rise to knowledge of suspicion or reasonable grounds for knowledge or suspicion of money laundering. Thus, even if a member of staff does not actually know or suspect but reasonably should have known or suspected, and does not report, he would be committing an offence. To this end, continuous surveillance for suspicious transactions must be carried out. Knowing its customers is the Company’s most important line of defense in preventing or detecting money laundering activities. It is important that the Company verifies the identity of new counterparties and ensures that they are involved in bona fide business activities and that they share the Company’s high standards of integrity and business practice.
Knowledge in relation to money laundering has been in the past defined widely and includes: willfully ignoring the obvious, willfully and recklessly failing to make inquiries as a reasonable and honest person would make, knowledge of circumstances which would indicate facts to such honest and reasonable person or put them on enquiry.
Suspicion is assessed on a subjective basis although goes beyond mere speculation. Reasonable grounds to suspect introduces an objective test rather than a subjective test of suspicion. It might therefore include willful blindness (i.e. turning a blind eye to the obvious), negligence (recklessly failing to make adequate enquiries) and failing to assess adequately the facts and information presented or available. It shall be noted that suspicion shall depend on the nature of the relationship and the transaction and the particular circumstances of each case.
The Company will therefore ensure that staff takes all reasonable steps in the particular circumstances to know the customer and the rationale for the transaction or instruction. The Company shall keep records of reports made by their staff and of reports made to the Supervisory Authority.
A suspicious transaction will often be one which is inconsistent with a customer’s known legitimate business. To facilitate the assessment of a suspicious transaction, emphasis will be made on the understanding of the client’s business and adequate record keeping. the customer’s business and his / her requirements and adequate record keeping to facilitate the assessment. It is the responsibility of all staff to report knowledge or suspicion of money laundering.
The following questions may help to determine whether a transaction is suspicious:
Suspicions of money laundering, however minor, should be discussed immediately with the MLRO. An internal form for making a report of a suspicion or knowledge of money laundering has been included in this manual.
Steps should also be taken to monitor accounts held on behalf of customers that hold positions of public trust such as government officials, politicians and any known connected accounts.
Reporting a suspicion is a defense to a claim for breach of a confidence. However, any statements to the press or other publicity must be routed through the MLRO or his deputy. A report made in good faith, shall exempt the persons involved from criminal, civil or administrative liability. Confidentiality whilst an investigation is ongoing is of the utmost importance and employees are reminded of the offence of “tipping-off”.
Employees must report any relevant money laundering suspicions to the MLRO.
FP Markets will use your personal information for any of the following purposes:
The suspicion should be fully documented, including the name and location of the reporting employee, full details of the client, and an account of the information giving rise to the suspicion.
All internal enquiries made in relation to the report, and the reason behind whether or not to submit the report should also be documented.
We will document our verification, including all identifying information provided by a customer, the methods used and results of verification, and the resolution of any discrepancy in the identifying information. We will keep records containing a description of any document that we relied on to verify a customer’s identity, noting the type of document, any identification number contained in the document, the place of issuance, the date of issuance and expiration date. With respect to non-documentary verification, we will retain documents that describe the methods and the results of any measures we took to verify the identity of a customer.
There is an obligation on all staff to report knowledge or suspicions of money laundering in accordance with these procedures. An employee commits an offence if a reasonable ground for suspicion/knowledge of money laundering exists and he/she fails to report. Therefore, if you have a suspicion, no matter how small:
