- Caribbean Financial Action Task Force
Transcription
- Caribbean Financial Action Task Force
Round Robin CARIBBEAN FINANCIAL ACTION TASK FORCE Twelfth Follow-Up Report DOMINICAN REPUBLIC February , 2015 © 2015CFATF. All rights reserved. No reproduction or translation of this publication may be made without prior written permission. Requests for permission to further disseminate reproduce or translate all or part of this publication should be obtained from the CFATF Secretariat at CFATF@cfatf.org 1 Round Robin I. Introduction. 1. This document summarises the analysis done by the CFATF Secretariat with regard to the progress made as informed by Dominican Republic, to overcome the deficiencies identified in the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) adopted in October, 2006. It is based on the progress matrix received in draft on the 29th August and then on 12th November, as well as the regulations presented on November 21st, 2014. The Dominican Republic was removed from the enhanced follow-up process. They submitted the Eleventh Follow-up Report to the May 2014 Plenary in which it is decided that they would be moved to regular follow-up. During the November 2014 Plenary, the Dominican Republic presented a summary of the progress made so far and it was decided that they would be assessed in greater detail through the Round Robin process.. 2. Fourteen (14) of the sixteen (16) FATF Core and Key Recommendations were rated NC or PC and two (2) Recommendations were rated as LC, as shown in the following table Rec. Rating 1 3 4 5 10 13 23 26 35 36 40 I II III IV V PC PC LC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC LC NC NC NC NC NC 3. In total the country’s ratings were PC or NC in thirty-seven (37) of the FATF Recommendations. Partially Compliant (PC) 1. Money laundering offence: Penalization 3. Confiscation and provisional measures 5. Customer due diligence 6. Politically exposed persons 7. Correspondent banking 10. Record keeping 11. Unusual transactions 13. Suspicious transaction reporting 14. Protection and no tipping-off 15. Internal controls, compliance and audit 17. Sanctions 18. Shell banks 19. Other forms of reporting 21. Special attention for higher risk countries Non-Compliant (NC) 9. Third parties and introducers 12. DNFBPs – R.5, 6, 8-11 16. DNFBPs – R.13-15 & 21 20. Other NFBP & secure transaction techniques 24. DNFBPs regulation, supervision and monitoring 32. Statistics 34. Legal arrangements-beneficial owners SR.I Implement UN instruments SR.II Criminalise terrorist financing SR.III Freeze and confiscate terrorist assets SR.IV Suspicious transaction reporting SR.V International Cooperation SR.VIII Non-profit organisations Not Assessed: SR IX – Cross border declaration and disclosure 22. Foreign branches & subsidiaries 23. Regulation, supervision and monitoring 25. Guidelines and feedback 26. The FIU 28. Powers of competent authorities 29. Supervisors 30. Resources, integrity and training 33. Legal persons-beneficial owners 35. Conventions 36. Mutual legal assistance (MLA) 37. Dual criminality 38. MLA on confiscation and freezing SR. VII Wire transfer rules 4. The following information is intended to provide an idea of the size, internationalization and level of risk of the major financial sectors. 2 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 Banks1 Other credit institutions 2 Stock Market 3 Insurers TOTAL 17 49 29 33 128 356,584,150.16 870,100,582.55 27,269,509,167.73 Number of Institutions Total # Assets US$ 21,996,425,069.23 4,046,399,365.79 Total: US$ 13,53,216,679.18 701,911,914.09 24,059,091.01 14,261,187,684.28 141,768,186.61 0.00 Not Available 141,768,186.61 1.05 0.00 0.00 2,169,492,397.02 237,631,073.28 152,923,220.22 260,209,048.86 2,820,255,739.37 403,207,066.34 38,062,748.09 94,451,226.24 75,352,001.61 611,073,042.28 18.59 16.02 61.76 28.96 21.67 6 5 10 21 Deposits Non resident % de Non-residents Total Capital: US$ Foreign Capital International % Foreign Capital: #Subsidiaries abroad (amount) Source: Done by the Analysis Dept. of the FIU with information obtained from the WEB pages of the Superintendence of Banks (SIB),) and the Insurance Superintendence respectively; with information provided by telephone, by technicians of the related areas related for the type of information requested. The information from the Securities Superintendence (SIV) were done and sent by said entity. 1/ Other financial institutions, include Savings and Loans banks, Savings and Loans Association, Credit Corporations and the National Housing Bank (BNV). A) The referenced periods for the date and rates of exchange used: 1) Statistics from the Superintendence of Banks "are for the month of February 2014, U.S. dollar conversion. The rate of Exchange used (Sale) from the Central Bank equivalent to RD$ 43.23 per USD 28 February 2014. 2) Statistics from the Insurance Superintendence July-September 2013 (3rd Q) rate of exchange used from the Central Bank (Sale) equivalent RD$42.53 per USD to 30th September 2013. Information on total deposits is awaiting validation as they can be modified, same correspond to the 3 rd Q of 2013: the information regarding nonresident deposit is being collated. . 3) Information from the Securities Exchange to the 31 December 2013. The rate of Exchange published by the Dom Rep Central Bank to close of business 31/12/2013 equivalent to RD$42.6723 per USD $1. B) Procedures for the calculation of the percentages: 1) Percentage of Non-Resident Deposits, was calculated on the basis of the total deposit in foreign institutions (6) with regard to the total of deposits in each type of entity. 2) Percentage of Foreign Capital, was obtained through the relationship between the total capital of each type of entity of their respective sectors and the amount of capital coming from outside of each type of entity. 3) Percentage of Total Foreign Capital, was obtained from the relationship of the total capital from all sectors with respect to the total of the foreign capital from the organizations in each sector. 2/ The information from the Securities superintendence is being elaborated. N/A: Means “Not Applicable” ND: Means “Not Available” 3 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 II. Scope of Report 5. This report will focus on all the recommendations whose level of compliance remains Partially Compliant (PC) or Non-Compliant (NC) according to the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) and which are still have not been fully remedied. 6. That is, it will focus on the following Recommendations: Key Recommendations 5, 10, 13, SR. II and IV; Core Recommendations 23, 26 and SR. III. III. Summary of the progress made by Dominican Republic since the last Follow-up Report. 7. The Dominican Republic formulated a Strategic Plan aimed at all the Reporting Entities, including Credit Unions and the insurance sector. This Plan involves 4 strategic axis by which the system for prevention of ML/TF will be strengthened. 8. The Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Unit was created in the insurance sector, in order to strengthen the sector and create specific rules and for supervision. 9. The UAF presented the Financial Intelligence Report, which contains diverse useful statistical information for carrying out the functions of the Unit. 10. Information on legal regulations which extend and strengthen the Anti Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism system in the Dominican Republic was updated. 11. Likewise, Law No. 312-14 was presented which introduces amendments to Law No. 480-08, establishing the legal framework of the International Financial Free Zones in the Dominican Republic. It also modifies the Regulations against Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism. Outstanding Key Recommendations: Recomendation 1 12. As indicated from the 4th.Follow-up Report, this Recommendation has no outstanding deficiencies. In addition, the authorities have updated for this follow –up Report that the UAF, includes in its strategic plan for the Reporting Entities, Credit Unions, as well as the insurance sector, a Plan whose main themes are: Regulation, Training, Supervision and Inspection, which will allow to follow up on prevention programmes of these two sectors. It is expected that for the next report they will be able to provide statistical information about the strategic plan. This deficiency was remedied. Recommendation 5 13. As it relates to on site verification of CDD policies applied by the entities that are under the supervision of the Superintendency of Banks and the harmonious and comprehensive coordination of off-site follow-up of the weaknesses detected a a result of the inspections, the on site supervision of Financial Institutions focused on internal controls, performance, responsibility, scope and dimension of the Compliance Management, training programs imparted and the effectiveness of internal and external audits performed by the entity. The off-site supervisions are carried out by virtue of the different reports received (reports of transactions in cash exceeding US$ 10,000, IF-01; Purchase and Sale of Foreign Currencies, FD-01 (Daily); Availability of Foreign Currency, FD-02 (Daily); Remittances (Sending and Receiving of foreign currency), FD- 4 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 03 (Daily); List of Correspondent Banks (Monthly); Politically Exposed Persons (Semi-annually) and the Required Information Form IF-02, (A Requirement). This supervision is risk-based and allows focus of resources on entities that show greater vulnerability, allowing the authorities to take preventive decisions. This deficiency was remedied. 14. With regards to the deficiency to define a comprehensive and coordinated strategy for the implementation and following up of Prevention Programs in the Credit Unions, under the charge of the Superintendency of Banks, the Financial Analysis Unit and the Institute of Development and Credit Union. And likewise the Superintendency of Insurance do the right thing as it relates to AML/CFT with respect to Insurance Cooperatives provided for in article 116 of the Regulations to the law No. 127 on Cooperatives; the UAF incorporated in its Strategic Plan for the Reporting Entities, Credit Unions, as well as the Insurance sector. The Strategic Plan consists of regulation, training, supervision and inspection, through which wPrevention Programmes in these two sectors will be followed up. At this time, the authorities are coordinating their application in a comprehensive manner to evaluate the results. This deficiency is still pending. 15. With regard to including the origin of the funds to be invested as one of the elements for the characterization of the client within the project to "Standards for Securities Intermediaries which lays down rules for its functioning and the Accounting Manual and Accounts Plan", in subsection “q” of article 4 (basic definitions) on Investor Profile, under the charge of the Securities Superintendency, the authorities advised that the origin of the funds to be invested, as one of the elements for the characterization of the client, is included in the Due Diligence Guide, both for the Stock Market Sector as wel as the Guide for the Superintendency of Banks, for the other reporting entities in the financial sector, however it is necessary that the authorities provide the legal basis for requiring the origin of the funds to be invested. .. This deficiency is still pending 16. As indicated in paragraph 14 of the 11th Follow up Report, as it relates to the need to verify that the stock market properly documents the information about the client's profile and cross checks the information with that obtained by the investing Bank, the authorities indicated that the Securities Superintendency has strengthened its procedures for verifying through tasks involving cross checking of information provided by the Stock Exchange posts, and the on site inspections. During the year 2014, 3 ordinary inspections were carried out and 2 regular. Resolution R-CNV2012-01-MV (Rule governing the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism in the Dominican Securities Market) states that the reporting entities must keep client records permanently updated, documenting in the file the record of the questionnairethat serves as a basis to determine the Investor Profile and the report - in which said determination is verified. This deficiency was remedied 17. Enact legislative, regulatory and administrative measures specific to the AML/CFT around the the insurance market, similar to that regulated for the stock market as is established in paragraph 15 of the 11th Follow –Up Report .The Dominican Republic, is proposing the updating of regulation in the insurance sector, to incorporate anti laundering measures very similar to those which the stock market sector has. In addition, the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Unit was created in the insurance sector, which has a strategic plan of creating standards and a statistical Department. This is progress in the compliance of this deficiency, its full implementation requires: the issuance of legislative, regulatory and administrative measures specific to the issue of AML/CFT for the insurance sector. This deficiency is still pending. 18. On consistent deficiency to dictate laws or special regulations on stock control, banking correspondent and cross-border financial services and insurance, it is necessary that will provide updates in this regard. This deficiency is still pending 5 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 19. In terms of the consistent deficiency in which the Superintendency of Banks, Securities and Insurance, should strengthen follow up of the principles and guidelines applicable to the subject of AML/CFT dictated by Basel (BCBS), the IOSCO and IAIS, respectively, under the protection of Anti Money Laundering Law 72-02, empowers the Superintendency of Banks, in its quality and as competent authority to carry out risk-based Preventive Supervision of Financial Brokerage and Exchange institutions of the country, applying with these the Basel Principles to carry out the supervision. Resolution CNV-2005-10-IV containing the "Standard for Securities Intermediaries which sets out arrangements for its functioning" brings together the Basel Committee Principles, as well as the objectives and core principles for the regulation of the stock market of the "International Organization of Securities Commissions IOSCO..." The ML and FT Prevention Unit for the Insurance Sector, recently created, will be working on these issues. This deficiency was remedied for the monitoring carried out by the Superintendency of Banks and the Securities Superintendency , not so for the Superintendency of Insurance, which for being newly created, will work on the amendment of these deficiencies. This deficiency is still pending. 20. Derived as indicated above, this Recommendation requires that the deficiencies specified in paragraphs pertaining to the Rec. 5. are remedied. Full compliance of this Recommendation is pending. . Recommendation 10 21. Paragraph 292 of the MER noted the need to issue circulars or express instructions aimed at financial intermediation and foreign exchange institutions, which guide in a specific manner the appropriate mechanisms to archive and preserve with integrity and securely the information, either physically or electronically. 22. In this sense, the Superintendency of Banks issued specific regulations to verify compliance with the obligation of keeping documents, intended for the financial Intermediation and Exchange entities (Guidelines for the prevention of the ML/FT and Instructions "Know Your Client"). Similarly, the securities sector issued the Resolutions No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV and R-CNV2012-14MV which include this aspect. The National Committee against Money Laundering empowers the UAF to regulate and supervise the prevention of Money Laundering of Non Financial Reporting Entities through Resolution 01-13. The specific legislation concerned has in turn based on the Monetary and Financial Law 183-02, which establishes in Article 51, that the "Financial intermediation institutions will be required to document their operations in the manner determined as regulatory Said documentation will be kept for ten (10) years subsequent to the cancellation of the transaction, in writing or when feasible through the use of computer procedures and optical archives and any other means that the Monetary Board determines... "." The Authorities indicated that the information may be filed either physically or in any electronic manner, requiring that the integrity of the document is guaranteed. The above mentioned measures specifically regulating the banking and securities sectors, leaving pending the issuance of: specific measures to archive, store and manage with integrity and security, information during the 10 years that they are regulated in Law 72-02, aimed at the insurance sector. This deficiency is still pending. . 23. As indicated in the previous Follow up Report, full compliance with this Recommendation, must take into account that all core criteria for Recommendation 10, should be referred to in law or regulation (except 10.1.1) a concept defined in the Methodology for Evaluating Compliance with the FATF 40 + 9 Recommendations.. Recommendation 13 6 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 24. As it relates to explicitly establishing the obligation to report a suspicious transaction for tax reasons in accordance with the criterion 13.4 of the Methodology for Assessing Compliance with the 40 + 9 FATF Recommendations, the Authorities pointed out that in the Dominican Republic the SAR is mandatory, without exception, this is that transactions involving tax issues must be reported, according to Article 41, Paragraph 5 of Law 72-02, which defines a suspicious transaction as: those transactions that are "complex, unusual, significant in the face of all unusual patterns." These must be reported for investigative purposes to the Financial Analysis Unit". This means that all suspicious transactions will be sent including those involving tax issues. 25. It is important to note, that this deficiency was identified in the MER in paragraphs 32, 346 and especially in paragraph 376, in which it is indicated that the provision must be "express", which implies that it need not be only implicit: "376. "A legal provision must be established which expressly obligates the Reporting Entities to generate SARson transactions attempted or not consummated, and also stating that a SAR is generated irrespective of whether they are or are not tax issues, which would prevent someone claiming that that issue is fiscal and accordingly should not be subject to analysis or investigation for Money laundering". This deficiency is still pending. Special Recommendation II 26. With respect to the deficiency of adding individual terrorist in the criminalization of the financing of terrorism, according to the essential criterion II 1 (a) (iii) of the Methodology, the authorities cited Law No. 267-08 on Terrorism, which stipulates in Article 23 on Recruitment and support, which "Shall be punished with imprisonment of ten (10) to twenty (20) years: 1. One who intentionally promotes or lends support to activities carried out by individuals or organized groups for the carrying out ofany of the offences established under this law, even if they aren’t part of the execution ; 2. One who hides, harbors , hosts or recruits persons for the execution of any of the offences established under this law." Likewise, the same law in Article 25, establishes "Financing of terrorism. One who intentionally finances, subsidizes, hides or transfers money or goods to be used or knowingthat they will be used in the commission of any of the offences described in articles 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 21, even if they don’t participate in its execution or they fail to consummate, shall be punished with twenty (20) to thirty (30) years in prison. ".The afore-mentiones articles, criminalize a range of terrorist-related offences. It is necessary to note, that the cited legislation, criminalizes and punishes crimes committed in criminal liability not only at the collective level, but also at the individual level to the regular to "whoever...", implicating with the terminology “Whoever’ those crimes committed by an individual. This deficiency was remedied. 27. The above stated deficiency being the only one noted and remedied, SR II reached the level equivalent to C. Special Recommendation IV 28. As it relates to deficiency in the regulation of the obligation to report transactions completed and attempted to the UAF arising from TF. The authorities cited that Article 67 of the Law 267-08, on Terrorism states: "Applicable rules. When confiscation measures are established the rules and procedures prescribed in the Law No.72-02, on Money Laundering will apply. "." Article 10 of Regulation 20-03 for the implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Law Proceeds of the Illicit traffic in Drugs and Controlled Substances and other Serious Offences, c: sets out "Pay special attention to all transactions carried out or not, complex, unusual, significant and all the patterns of unusual transactions, which will have to be reported", within twenty-four (24) hours from the time that it takes place or is attempted to be carried out. to the competent authority;" 7 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 This legal support empowers the Competent Dominican Authority in the field of money laundering and financing of terrorism to impose the obligation to report these transactions to the UAF , an obligation imposed by procedures guidelines 29. Although in practice the UAF has the power to impose the obligation to report "transactions carried out or not, complex, unusual, significant and all patterns of unusual transactions..." coming from financing of terrorism, it is important to note the following: i) Aticle 67 of Law 26708 on Terrorism, sets out applicable regulated rules in the Anti- Money Laundering Law for cases of seizure and not for the obligation to file a SAR for TF. ii) Article 10 of Regulation 20-03 of the Anti Money Laundering Law adequately regulates the obligation of presenting SARs. However, the nature of the Anti Money Laundering Law and its Rules, as described in its explanatory statement and in the legal body, is criminalising Money Laundering and not the Financing of Terrorism. iii) the UAF is the competent authority as it relates to LA/TF to receive and analyze the SARs, however the obligation of Financial Institutions to present SAR for TF is not regulated in the applicable Law. (iv) Although in truth, the UAF issues Procedures Guidelines to provide greater clarity for the fulfilment of these obligations, Criteria IV.1 of the Evaluation methodology (which is the criterion where this deficiency arises), establishes that the SAR for TF must be stated in the Law or Regulation, understanding as “law or regulation" the primary or secondary legislation such as laws, decrees or the like, issued by a legislative body. This implies that there is a legal loophole in Law No. 267-08 on Terrorism, to regulate the SAR for transactions completed or attempted stemming from TF, similarly to that regulated in Article 10 of the Regulation of the Anti Money Laundering Law This deficiency is still pending. Outstanding Key Recommendations Recommendation 23 30. With respect to the supervision, specific monitoring and enforcement of sanctions on AML/CFT of the Superintendency of Insurance, the authorities indicated in the 10th Follow Up Report that discussions began with the Superintendency of Insurance for the creation of the ML/FT Prevention Unit within the Superintendency. The monitoring and enforcement of sanctions by the Superintendency is a deficiency that is pending. 31. With regard to the establishment in Law No. 183-02, Monetary and Financial Law, Monetary and Financial Regulation of of specific fit and proper requirements for directors and senior management of the financial intermediation and exchange institutions, which must include aspects of knowledge of the business and moral integrity, and the express power from the supervising entity to remove from these posts persons who do not meet these requirements, (the Authorities cited Article 38 f) of Law 183-02, Monetary and Financial Code, which establishes the limitations, qualities and disabilities for shareholders and directors of the Financial Intermediation and Exchange entities. Likewise, reference was made to the standards contained in the 7th. Resolution of the Monetary Board dated February 14, 2008 and in the Corporate Governance Regulations, issued by the 2nd. Resolution of the Monetary Board dated April 19, 2007, in which disabilities are specified for shareholders and managers of Financial Intermediation and Exchange Institutions. Such Resolutions must be provided to carry out a full analysis on the compliance of the deficiency. Likewise information must be provided on the implementation of this resolution and business knowledge and integrity of the Directors and administrators of Financial Intermediation and Exchange Institutions. This deficiency is still pending. 32. With regard to the issuance of the Code for Fit and Proper and Conduct for Shareholders, Directors and Managers of Financial Institutions, Exchange Houses, Stock Exchange and 8 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 Insurance, the authorities cited Article 38 f) of the Monetary Code, which contains limitations, qualities and disabilities. It is necessary that information be presented on the Resolutions of the Monetary Board which were referenced in the previous paragraph, in order to perform a full analysis on the compliance of the deficiency. This deficiency is still pending. 33. With regard to the deficiency on including in Laws No. 183-02 (Monetary and Financial Code), No.146-02 (Law on Insurance and Bonds) and No.19-2000 (which regulates the Stock Exchange Market), the possibility to withdraw, restrict or suspend the respective licenses to operate the entities under the respective supervision of the Superintendency of Banks, Insurance and Securities, when it detects that they are being controlled by organized crime. Law 72-02 brings together all Reporting Entities all financial institutions legally regulated, according to Article 38). Article 45 regulates the punishment of "public admonition and/or revocation of the Administrative Law" which authorized the operation of the Reporting entity. Additionally, Law 183-02, Monetary and Financial Code, in Art.68 a) establishes the Very Serious Offences and establishes the sanction of revoking the operating license in accordance with Art.70 a) paragraph 1. indicates the power for the revocation of licenses. Law 72-02, Anti Money Laundering , in Art.49, empowers the Superintendency of Banks as the Competent Authority to revoke the License of the Reporting Entities by the concept of recidivism. This deficiency was remedied. 34. On the development of the concept of "moral solvency" of shareholders and directors in Law No. 19-2000 (Stock Market) and Law No. 146-02 (Insurance and Bonds), Article 12 g) incorporates as a requirement for the authorisation to act as an insurer or reinsurer, having sufficient "economic and moral solvency", which is likely to be verifiable by the necessary means. This deficiency was corrected for the insurance sector. This deficiency is pending only for the securities sector. This deficiency is still pending. Recommendation 26 35. With regards to the continuing deficiency in making the transition from the Department of Financial Intelligence of the Superintendency of Banks to the Financial Analysis Unit and avoid the duality of functions, this was rectified, with only the provision of updated information on the Egmont Group membership remaining pending. Subsequent to the preparation of this report, the authorities indicated that the Dominican Republic will become a member of the Egmont Group at the next Plenary meeting and reported on modifications to Law 312-14 which amended Law 48008 on International Financial Zone, which will be analyzed in greater depth after the Plenary for approval via Round Robin. This deficiency is still pending. 36. Regarding the continuing deficiency in making the transition from the UAF dynamically and have an Action Plan to do so, this deficiency was remedied. 37. With regard to considering implementing supervisory bodies for the reprting entities sectors which still do not have a regulator that supervises them and sanctions them for non-compliance with prevention policies and have bodies with the power to inspect the procedures and internal control mechanisms, the UAF currently has such powers of supervision and sanction for all reorting entities. The Authorities must provide subsequent to the Plenary meeting, the specific legal basis which regulates the powers of supervision and imposition of sanctions that the UAF has, so that this information is analyzed by means of Round Robin. This deficiency is still pending 38. For the previous Follow-up Report the authorities clarified that the National Anti- Money Laundering Committee, has the right to remove the UAF Director. It is necessary that Dominican Republic clarifies the legal interpretation for the grounds for removal and continue to follow-up 9 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 on the adoption of the Reform to Law 72-02, which is currently in the process and in which are included the grounds for removal of the UAF Director. This deficiency is pending. 39. For this Follow-up report, the UAF presented the Financial Intelligence Report in which the maintenance of statistics on SAR, RTE, and requests for information is evidenced. Total compliance of this deficiency requires follow up on the following actions: a) Approval of the reforms to Law 72-02 in which it is planned to include the grounds for removal of the UAF Director (b) submit evidence that are made known publicly, typologies and trends; (c) provide information on standards for the recruitment of officials; d) Information about the ability of the UAF to share information with counterpart entities and memoranda of understanding and e) Conclude systematization of receipt of information project including the Suspicious Transaction Reports. This deficiency is still pending. . Recommendation III 40. The authorities indicated for this report that Dominican Republic welcomes the Resolutions of the of the UN Security Council. These are sent to the Financial Intermediation and Exchange Institutions, so that they can report if they have carried out operations with listed persons and prevent themselves from effecting operations with them. Likewise, it was noted that through the implementation of the "Guidelines for the prevention of illicit activities known as moneylaundering and the financing of terrorism for Financial Intermediation and Exchange Institutions" by the Superintendency of Banks, have been implemented, Resolutions 1267 and 1373 of the United Nations Security Council. However, in the face of the end of the 3rd round of Mutual Evaluations, it is necessary that the Dominican Republic present updated information on the compliance of each of the deficiencies identified in the MER for SR III.Compliance with this Recommendation is pending. IV. Conclusion 41. For this report, the Dominican Republic reached the level equivalent to at least C for SR II.Also, in previous Follow-up Reports it was indicated that the deficiencies identified in Core Recommendation 1 and Key Recommendations 3, 35, 36, and SR.I and V rated in the last MER as PC and NC were substantially rectified. Key Recommendations 4 and 40, were rated as LC in the MER. Por lo anterior, en cuanto al cumplimiento de las Recomendaciones Esenciales y Claves, se encuentran pendientes las deficiencias indicadas en este Informe de Seguimiento, para las Recomendaciones Esenciales. 5, 10, 13 y RE IV y Recomendaciones Clave 23, 26 y RE III. Therefore, in terms of compliance with the Core and Key Recommendations, the deficiencies indicated in this Follow-up Report, for Core Recommendations. 5, 10, 13 and SR IV and Key Recommendations 23, 26 and SR III are pending. 42. Subsequent to the preparation of this Follow-Up Report, the authorities gave more information on the Securities sector and various deficiencies, which, given the proximity of the Mutual Evaluation, deserve to be analyzed in greater detail, which is proposed, to be done via Round Robin. It is recommended that the Dominican Republic continue to take the necessary measures to fully remedy the remaining deficiencies and face the challenges that future Mutual Evaluation will demand for the country. 43. It is recommended that the Plenary approves this revised follow-up Report subsequent to the Plenary meeting, via Round Robin and that the Dominican Republic remainon Regular follow-up, reporting to the Plenary in May 2015, taking into account the pending reforms to Law 72-02, and the proximity of its mutual assessment, scheduled for 2015. . 10 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 February, 2015 CFATF Secretariat ______________________ 11 Round Robin DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Progress Matrix. 3rd Round of Mutual Evaluations. The changes included since the last follow-up, are in bold FATF Rec. Rating Legal Systems 1. ML offense PC 12 Factors underlying rating Financing of terrorism is not criminalized. It was not considered that the legislation covered all designated categories of offence. The limit of three years for serious offences is too high. Conspiracy to commit money laundering is not included as a contributory offence Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country The Palermo Convention should be The Palermo Convention was ratified on 26 November 2006 by Senate ratified. Resolution 355-06. Criminalize the financing of terrorism The Law against Terrorism has been approved and enacted with and make it subject to more than three years No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This law criminalizes the Financing of imprisonment in order that it may fall within Terrorism as a Serious Crime (Art. 25). The Lowest Penalty is the definition of serious offence. Greater than or equal to three (03) years, which falls into the category of Serious Crime as stipulated in the Dominican Criminal Code. All The legislation should cover all Reporting entities have the responsibility to report operations that designated categories of offence indicated they believe are suspicious, already legally, as was stipulated before, by the but as a best practice. (Law 72-02 Art.41 paragraph 5) FATF and reduce the limit of three years Three (03) years is the minimum penalty specified for a serious offence for serious offences. by the Dominican Criminal Code. It would appear that the problem here is not time, but criminalisation and the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Act 72-02), which criminalises all illegal acts suggested by the FATF 40 Recommendations. Conspiracy to Launder is in fact criminalised; see Art. 4 of Act 72-02. Note: it is not article 4 of 72-02, but (see Art. 21 letter b, of law 72-02), since: the conspiracy exists when two or more persons arrange to carry out a crime and resolve to carry them out .according to the legal encyclopedia). In that sense the Law 72-02 article 21 letter b, sets out: the fact of having committed the offence in association with two or more persons (is an aggravating circumstance of the crime of money laundering). The Sworn Declaration of Assets and Illicit Gain Act is in the process of being approved by the National Congress (approved by the Senate of the Republic in June 2012, pending hearing in the Deputies Chamber) This Act criminalizes the offense of illicit gain of public sector officials with penalties ranging from five (5) years to ten (10) years imprisonment, constituting an offense prior to money laundering. As for the recommendation to cover all categories of crimes and reduce the limit of three years for serious crimes. These two issues were treated with by the draft amendment of Law 72-02 which is in Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 2 ML offense– mental element and corporate liability 3. Confiscatio n and provisional measures Rating LC PC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Although Article 4 of Act 72-02 AML legislation states that the element of intent in the implemented commission of an offence may be inferred from the objective circumstances of the case, there was no evidence that the intentional element in money laundering has been used in the courts. should be further Provisional measues seem to be It is recommended that measures tending to used and implemented effectively, but prevent or avoid actions in which the persons they are only for money laundering, involved knew or ought to have known that as a result of their actions the ability of the not for FT, which is not criminalised. There are no measures to prevent or authorities to recover the property subject to avoid actions in which the persons confiscation is affected should be incorporated involved knew or ought to have known in the law. that as a result of such actions, the ability of the authorities to recover property subject to confiscation would be affected. Actions Informed by Country the process of being approved The Anti-Money Laundering Unit of the Procuraduría General de la República was created in 2006 as the juridical entity representing the Ministerio Público in money laundering investigation and prosecution. So far the Unit has obtained three (3) final verdicts in the courts. There have been no prosecutions on grounds of intentionality, because of lack of evidence. However, there are now cases that may reverse this trend with charges and possible convictions on these grounds From 2006 to September, 2011, the courts have issued about 20 rulings having used Article 4 of Law 72-02. The Civil Code (articles 1131, 1349 y 1350) allows the annulment of agreements or contracts that are simulated with the purpose of disguising goods. The Supreme Court has issued sentences in hundreds of cases where annulment is requested. No law can provide for violation through ignorance; at all events this would not be legally valid. Act 72-02 applies to “whoever knowingly…”, though it also requires all regulated entities to know their customers, thereby providing a technicality to enable an investigator to build a case on the assumption that they must know what their customers were doing and where they got their money. As regards criminalisation of Financing of Terrorism, we have already mentioned that the Anti-Terrorist Bill was passed on its second reading. This Bill criminalises terrorist financing as a serious offence. Section 51 of the new Dominican Constitution, proclaimed on January 2010, establishes new measures to confiscate and allows the creation of a system of administration and disposition of property seized and abandoned in the criminal and forfeiture figure. The commission that drafted the law about Forfeiture, headed by the Dominican Attorney General is in the final stages of preparation for submission to Congress. The Dominican Republic and the OAS / CICAD, are in the process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the framework within which will be developed the project "seized assets in Latin America " (Project BIDAL), whose purpose is to provide technical assistance to Government in strengthening and improving the processes of identifying, locating, seizing, managing and disposing of the assets and proceeds from drug trafficking and money laundering, in order to improve the budgetary capacity and action of the entities responsible for demand reduction and drug supply. The project will include the establishment of standards of good governance and administrative transparency in the management and administration of 13 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country property in order to ensure maximum benefit and prevent slippage in use and disposal. In the framework of the Bidal Project, the consultant shall deliver a situational assessment in mid October, 2011. Bidal Project. The National Workshop on Asset Investigation and Seized and Forfeited Asset Management was held at the end of March 2012. The Consultant submitted the document containing the conclusions of the situational assessment and the recommendations adopted on seized assets in the Dominican Republic. The Inter-institutional Working Group of the BIDAL Project (GTIPB) was established, whose objective is to develop technical proposals (legislative or regulatory) that would strengthen and improve processes for the identification, location, seizure, management and disposal of assets and profits derived from drug trafficking and money laundering offences. An agreed proposal in that regard is expected to be achieved by the end of the year. The Bill on Forfeiture was finalised and is in the process of being shared. Law 72-02 allows the application of any preventive measure during the investigation process of a Money Laundering offence, including blocking the transfer of real estate in the Registry of Deeds (Article 9) The Sworn Declaration of Assets and Illicit Gain Act is in the process of being approved by the National Congress (approved by the Senate of the Republic in June 2012, pending hearing in the Deputies Chamber.) This Law seeks to institute an Automated and Uniformed National System for Sworn Declarations of Assets for Public Officials consistent with constitutional provisions (Article 146 of the Constitution) as it relates to the investigation of administrative corruption. It criminalizes the offense of Illicit Gain by officials in the public sector as a serious crime, with penalties ranging from five (5) to ten (10) years), precedent to money laundering. In the sentence is included, the confiscation of property not proven to be of legitimate origins, and its confiscation in favour of the Dominican State, disqualification from holding public office from two (2) to ten (10) years. Principle of Party Disposition In the Dominican Republic, Tribunals decide matters in virtue of elements, facts, evidence and claims made by parties, Criminal Process regulations only mandate the designated judge to know and issue a resolution regarding those specific matters that were presented before him and were requested with formal 14 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country conclusions. Art. 336 of the Criminal Procedures Code, establishes the relationship of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the final sentence issued by the judge. Sentence cannot take as proven fact or circumstances other that those described in the accusation and where applicable, it the extension of the accusation, unless in favour of the prosecuted. In the sentence, the court can provide a different legal rating to the fact, different to that contained in the accusation, or even apply different sanctions to those required, though never higher. The aforementioned is also supported by Article 22 of the Criminal Procedures Code, which establishes a clear distinction between the functions of investigation and prosecution, from the jurisdictional process. The Judge cannot perform actions that imply exercising criminal action, nor can the public prosecutor’s office perform jurisdictional activities. The Police and other officials that perform investigative tasks under criminal procedures, are part of the public prosecutor’s office. Likewise, Art. 23 of the same Code, establishes the obligation of judges, to rule over what was brought before them; they cannot avoid ruling over matters arguing silence, contradiction, deficiency, lack of clarity or ambiguity in terms of the Law, nor should they improperly delay a decision. In Common Law as in criminal regulations, there are petitions ultra petita, which means “beyond the requested”; this is used in Law to explain a situation where a judicial resolution is granted, even beyond what was requested. Also, extra petita, when the judge provides something different to the requested by a party. Examples of these are included in the different sentences by the Supreme Court of Justice in the Dominican Republic, “Considering, that in the specifics, the a-qua Court received a request for appeal, by the civil plaintiff Juan Rodriguez Jimenez, who presented a demand on the violation of Law 5869, Property Violation, against Wenceslao Disla Peralta and 15 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Iluminada Moronta, resulting this discharged in first degree and where because of the appeal requested, the reviewing Tribunal agreed to impose sanctions as explained in a different section of the sentence, what occurred, even without, as explained by appellant, the private plaintiff requesting any kind of sanctions, or sentence for the accused, civil or criminal, but only the annulment of the first degree sentence and a new trial, for a new measure of proof, evidence presented and therefore, the a-qua Court has resulted in the vicious action of issuing a statement that goes beyond the requested, extra petita, in a case of private criminal actions, thereby being applicable to take the measured examined. Article 25 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Dominican Republic establishes that: procedural norms intended for restricting freedom, liberty, or imposing procedural sanctions, shall be interpreted on a restrictive manner. Law 72-02, with regard to money laundering, article 1, paragraph 13, defines simulation in the following manner: Commits simulation, the person that declares a false identity or different to its true identity, or that uses a third party’s identity, without his knowledge, with the intention of obtaining the deposit of the assets, funds or instruments on a financial entity, being this or not, the result of a serious offence. It will also be considered as simulation, all action that, with the intention of obtaining a profit, and through manipulation of public or private documents, electronic media or similar device – scheme, achieves the transfer of any property asset, in prejudice of a third party that has not agreed to the action. Considering the above, we can establish that the Dominican Judge, once the Public Prosecutors Office has requested the annulment of a simulated contract, that is actually preventing the recovery or tracking of goods subject to confiscation, the Judge is in the obligation of declaring the Nullity of the act, as long as the Public Prosecutor has so requested and approved. Preventive Measures 4. Secrecy LC Rec. 4 is not fully complied with, since the question of confidential A change in the law is necessary to specify clearly which competent authority The Office of the Superintendent of Securities has created an AntiMoney Laundering Unit which has been in operation since 2006. It does not 16 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 5. Customer due diligence Rating PC Factors underlying rating submission of a STR is not clear. The institutions of the Stock Market and Insurance Market have nothing on this matter, and they are not submitting STR’s as required. Recommended Actions shall receive and analyse SORs, since in the present state of affairs the SORs or evidence deriving from them could be challenged on the ground that confidentiality was breached by the SOR being submitted to the wrong authority, or that the authority in question analysed the (confidential) information without being empowered to do so. In this regard also, special measures should be put in place to protect the security and confidentiality of the SORs. Specific regulations for institutions in the stock market and insurance market should be issued. Actions Informed by Country analyse STRs. This is the exclusive responsibility of the Financial Analysis Unit of the National anti-Money Laundering Committee, which receives STRs direct from both stock market brokerage houses and banking and exchange institutions. The fact that a FIU receives STRs through a Supervisor does not imply that quality or security is compromised – everything depends on the procedures in effect. In fact, Recommendation 26 stipulates that access to supplementary information may be “direct or indirect”. Such a charge can only be sustained if the data handling procedure is inadequate or insecure. Legally speaking, the information, in the case of banking institutions, must be obtained via the Office of the Superintendent of Banks, which has a history of efficient service to the Competent Authorities requesting information from it. Bank Secrecy cannot be invoked as a defence, so long as the Competent Authorities request the information through the Supervisor, in this case the Superintendency of Banks. The latter has at its disposal a structure which operates with full attention to the requirements and to assessment of risks with a view to their mitigation [Translator’s note: The Spanish text has “litigación” (litigation), which is probably a misprint.] It does not analyse STRs. The National Securities Council (CNV) issued Resolution No. R-CNV-201201-MV, dated February 3, 2012, which governs the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism in the Dominican Securities Market. Section V, Chapter I, articles 35 to 42, reaffirm the duty of the reporting entities to notify the FAU of suspicious transactions, the only authority competent to analyse and distribute information, also reaffirming the confidential nature of said information. The minimum support or documentation that must accompany the STR is established. There is need to strengthen the The Superintendency of Banks, the Article 5 of Act 183-02 covers the structure of monetary and financial culture of CDD and apply it in greater Financial Analysis Unit and the Institute of administration, of which the Superintendency of Banks is a part. We depth principally to clients considered Cooperative Development and Credit should suggest, also, that Articles 18 and 19 of the Act be studied for clarification to be high risk define an overall and coordinated strategy of the extent of the authority of the Superintendency of Banks to issue for application and follow-up of prevention circulars and instructions, as well as to propose Resolutions to the Although the banking and exchange programmes in savings and loan Currency Board, in compliance with the law and in pursuit of its institutions and the Superintendency of cooperatives. Likewise the objectives. Banks comply with Recommendation Superintendency of Insurance should take 5 on CDD, the mandatory character The “Guidelines…” is an illustrative document, suggesting situations the appropriate steps in the area of and the legal basis of the guidelines which might lead to a level of business that must be considered unusual, AML/CFT with regard to insurance issued by the Superintendency of and others that must be considered suspicious. This is to preclude the cooperatives, as laid down in Article 116 of Banks on the subject should be Regulated Institutions claiming ignorance in clearly defined the Regulations attached to Act 127, the reinforced or defined. circumstances. 17 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Cooperatives Act There is need for strengthening on The “Know your Customer Instructions” is in fact mandatory, since it site inspection or verification of CDD It is recommended that the was issued by means of Resolution 006-01, under the mandate, then in policies applied by the supervised Superintendency of Securities include in force, set out by Decree 288-96, which constituted the Regulations institutions of the Superintendency of Sub-paragraph q of Article 4 (Basic corresponding to Act 17-95 concerning Narcotics and Prohibited Banks. Definitions) of its “Regulation for Securities Substances. Since then we have been observing enhanced due diligence Brokers Establishing Guidelines for requirements, which gave validity to this document as an adjunct to the For their part, the Securities and Functioning and Manual of Accountancy new Act 72-02. Even so, it was re-structured in the light of the new Insurance Markets have done little or and Plan of Accounts” the origin of the norms, both national and international, regarding terrorist financing. no work on ALM/CFT. funds to be invested as one of the elements Since the latter had not been criminalised, the instructions relating to it There is need for strengthening in the rating of the client. were described as good practices. mechanisms in the financial and In the stock market emphasis should be The Superintendency of Banks, together with the International exchange system of the Dominican given to filling out the profile of the Monetary Fund, has taken advantage of a regional programme to put into Republic to establish the precise customer and documenting information effect a new procedure divided into on-site and off-site supervisions, with identification of final beneficiaries. even after the operation. It is also a view to measurement, analysis and mitigation of risks. For this purpose CFT has not been legally enshrined recommended that there should be cross we have developed the “Off-site Analysis Matrix”, the input to which reference of information with that obtained consists of reports submitted by banking institutions, and an ”On-site by the bank in which the investor’s money Verification Matrix” listing everything that the inspector/analyst must is deposited. verify during the inspection. Both of these generate values for measurement of the compliance level of the institutions. On this basis, a It is recommended that legislative, sort of “Compliance Ranking” is being established. The programme is regulatory and administrative measures expected to be in place by the end of 2008. more specifically related to the subject of AML/CFT should be developed, as well as The above-mentioned Matrices contain variables aimed at international Warning Signals applicable to the nature of operations. This implies measurement of the operations and, logically, the business of firms in the stock market and identification of the customers who may use these services. insurance market. Supervision and introduction of preventive procedures in designated The National Anti-Money Laundering non-financial institutions is the responsibility of the Financial Analysis Committee should, as a Policy of State, Unit of the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee. Cooperatives associate itself more closely with, promote (closed or open) fall under the Dominican Cooperatives Institute and follow up the work being done by the (IDECOOP), pursuant to Act 127-64. A programme of preventive Superintendency of Securities and the policies is being applied in this sector, as part of an Overall Plan for Superintendency of Insurance in the field of strengthening prevention in designated non-financial institutions. AML/CFT, which up to the present moment The Unit for Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing is non-existent. of the Superintendency of Securities has strengthened its compliance The law against terrorism should be verification procedures by means of systems for cross-checking approved as early as possible, in order to information submitted by its supervised institutions, the stock market provide financial and exchange institutions outlets. with a legal basis for implementing CFT The Superintendencies of Banking, Securities and Insurance already prevention programmes not simply based on initiated the AML supervision of the institutions that are of their “international best practice”. competence, and they have adopted the good practices and Special laws and/or regulations on recommendations that were suggested. The Superintendency of Insurance, shareholder control, correspondent banks, additionally, is working to develop its Preventive Unit. For this purpose 18 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country and cross border financial and insurance the Superintendency of Banks is collaborating in the establishment of a services should be developed on the coming programme of technical assistance for the achievement of an efficient into force of free trade treaties such as that organisational structure. It is hoped that this unit will be operative by the signed between Central America, the first quarter of 2009. Dominican Republic and the United States The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee is the body for (GAFTA-DR). planning ML prevention and detection policies. Within it are the The Superintendencies of Banks, Financial Analysis Unit and the National Office for seized and Securities and Insurance should strengthen Confiscated Property. These, each in its own area of competence, are the the follow-up to the ALM/CFT directives executive instruments of the plans and resolutions issued by the issued by Basel (BCBS), IOSCO and IAIS, Committee. The committee has developed a kind of conglomerate of respectively. agencies, which are concerned in one way or another with prevention (Superintendencies), money (Customs and Internal Revenue), investigation (National Police, National Drug control directorate, Port and Airport Security) and prosecution (Ministerio Público), as well as the Financial Analysis Unit (FAU), with a view to bringing about the greatest possible coherence and thus ensure concerted and efficient action. There are clear rules for control by banks of shares in the Correspondent Bank (see Rules for Cross-border Transactions). Admittedly there is nothing in the law that limits shareholding by Financial Groups or Holding Companies in offshore banks, and this limits supervision of the member institutions of the group. This aspect is fully covered in the Bill to amend Act 183 (the Monetary and Finance Act). In keeping with the terms of the DR-CAFTA, the focus in this regard is on shareholding of groups in the signatory countries, basically for the purpose of avoiding monopolistic situations harmful to the market. In the particular case of the Dominican Republic, bearer shares, for example, are not permitted. These minimum standards have been taken into account in the design of on- and off-site verification procedure policies by the abovementioned Superintendencies. The same applies, mutatis mutandis, and only as a basis for reference, to the policies implemented by the Superintendency of Pensions. In scope they exceed the minimum BCBS, IOSCO and IAIS guidelines. There is an ongoing effort to raise awareness among regulated DNFBPs. The Superintendency of Securities is in the process of approval of the revisions to the Standard that lays down provisions on the prevention, control and monitoring of money laundering operations applicable to the Dominican Security Market. By virtue of paragraph IV, Article 86 of Law 87-01 concerning Social Security, a mechanism for the processing of information of updated database 19 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country is created in relation with affiliates (deductions, profitability, voluntary and extraordinary contributions). In addition, Pensions Funds Management Companies (AFP) are enforced to keep accounts and separate accounting of affiliates divided in: personal accounts, pension fund account, investment account and own equity and operations account. This facilitates a higher knowledge of the client profile and economic and financial profile. (Art. 83.- Independent Accounting and Equity Law 87-01 which creates the Social Security Dominican System. AFPs are enforced to establish controls necessary to make sure that information and credentials submitted by affiliates are true. AFPs must keep updated the records of the affiliates domicile. (Article 10 and 13 Decree 969-02 – Pensions Regulation) The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, reinforces several aspects pertaining to Customer Due Diligence and Extensive Customer Due Diligence, established in Section III, Chapter I, articles 11 to 25. It reinforces the obligation to know the customer and the final beneficial owner, specifying the minimum information that must be requested on the customer, placing emphasis on the duty to verify or confirm the data provided by same (which must be included in the customer’s file), identify the final beneficial owner with the obligation to take reasonable measures in order to understand the ownership and control structure of the customer, obtain information on the purpose and nature of the business relationship; place special attention on the business relationships forged with or where there are NGO’s and PEP’s, establishing an ongoing process and for updating customer data and respecting the business relations and the transactions conducted in the course of the relationship. Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-14-MV of the Superintendence of Securities dated 1st June 2012, which addresses “Certain provisions on the process of transfer of ownership of the Securities subject to offer to the public in the form of cash free transactions", establishes in article 4 that the transfer of securities in cash free form shall be registered in a central securities depository, and settlement schemes approved by the IMS should be used. Similarly, article 5 paragraph I obligates the reporting entities in the securities sector to have documentary support justifying each transfer of ownership, which should include information such as the name of the company or the client name, date and time at which the transaction took place, type of operation, nominal value, negotiated price, customer identification, etc. This resolution was issued taking into account international guidelines and the FATF Recommendations, which prevent legal operations aimed at ownership of generic goods in which there are no activities, actions, transactions or operations that justify the acquisition. 20 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country See resolution 01-13 of the National Committee against Money Laundering. That the Insurance Sector as reporting, obliged entity maintains records as established by the FIU - FAU in Law 72-02, for this, it will supervise the implementation and compliance with such provision, every 3 months. Training provided to entire Insurance Sector, with special emphasis on enhanced due diligence required to identify real beneficiary. Compliance officers were trained and Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing prevention units were created. On-Site Monitoring: The Superintendency of Banks developed a questionnaire for Compliance personnel, with the aim of evaluating the training of personnel and according to their ratings require additional training or a refocusing of the training to be offered. These qualifications are taken into account to establish the Compliance Ranking of the Financial Intermediation and Exchange Entities and with this an awareness of the level of risk of each. The Superintendency is coordinating the Governmental Commission, which is working to get the Dominican Republic to sign a Compliance Agreement with the United States for the purposes of getting the Dominican institutions compliant with the FATCA Bill. The Financial Analysis Unit and the Superintendency of Banks, have carried out training of all Reporting Entities, focused on broadened due diligence that identifies the beneficial owner 6. Politically exposed persons PC The banking and exchange institutions and the Superintendency of Banks have just begun to deal with the subject of PEPs. There is no means of compelling them to obtain the approval of the senior management of the institutions in order to enter into contracts with PEPs. In addition, in the securities and Strengthen the culture of customer due The Superintendency of Banks, in the process of creating an adequate diligence (CDD) applied in greater depth culture of compliance, on bases precise enough to facilitate its application, principally to clients considered to be high due diligence for identification of PEPs and how to deal with them, have risk. been included in the “Guidelines for Prevention of Money Laundering for Banking and Exchange Institutions and in the “Know your customer It is recommended that regulations be Instructions”. [Translator’s note: The syntax of this sentence is defective issued to require banks and exchange in the original. There are probably words missing]. The institutions, stock market and insurance Superintendencies of Securities and Pensions have drawn attention to this firms, to obtain the approval of their aspect, on the basis of the provisions of the OAS Inter-American respective Boards of Directors before Convention Against Corruption, which was ratified by the Dominican entering into contracts with PEPs and Republic on 20 November 1998, and therefore has the force of law. correspondent institutions. 21 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating insurance markets the subject practically unknown Recommended Actions is Actions Informed by Country There should be legal or regulatory The Superintendency of Banks displays on its web page links to the measures to enhance the role and staff lists of all public agencies, pursuant to the Freedom of Information commitment of the Boards of Directors and Act promulgated by Decree 200-04 of 28 July 2004. This Act stipulates upper management of bank and exchange that these data must be available to anyone who needs them. institutions in the approval and application The decision to do business with a person belongs to the each of AML/CFT prevention programmes, institution, unless the physical or legal person concerned is on the list especially with regard to CDD policies issued by the UN Security Council. Each institution must determine the applied to PEPs and correspondent relations, risk it assumes in doing business with a particular person, and this risk is and in non-face to face operations. assessed by the institution’s supervisory body. Logically, they must formulate enhanced preventive policies for PEPs and persons who are nationals of high-risk countries or operate from one of them. That is why the documents mentioned and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption impose special requirements Through Circular SB: No. 014/10, dated September 7, 2010, the Superintendency of Banks establishes the requirements for Politically Exposed Persons, while Circular SB: No. 013/10 of the same date, updates the Know Your Customer Guidelines. The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, adopts a definition for Politically Exposed Persons, which specifically states: “is any individual identified at the start of or during the contractual relationship, who is serving or has served as a senior public official, in his own country or abroad. It also includes family members up to the second degree of consanguinity and the first degree of kinship (spouse), associated persons and close collaborators. Also included are those persons holding top ranking executive positions, belonging to any business association, business or other entity that has been organised by or for the benefit of such persons. Similarly, it includes those with whom financial or business relations are maintained publicly. Also included among PEP’s, are the main executives of Political Parties and Organisations, as well as diplomatic and consular representations;” Sub-paragraph a) of article 19, establishes the obligation of the reporting entity to pay special attention to transactions conducted by PEP’s. Article 20 provides measures for extensive due diligence, making it mandatory to obtain approval from the high ranking directors of the entity in order to establish business relations with those customers, and to also take measures to determine the source of funds and conduct ongoing and thorough monitoring of the business relationship. It provides that reporting entities must have proper risk management systems in order to determine if a customer is a PEP. In 2011, the SIB received a total of 10,678 notifications from the EIFC regarding transactions conducted by or with PEPs. 22 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country By virtue of Decree No.486-12, dated August 21, 2012,under the Executive, was established, the General Office of Government Ethics and Integrity (DIGEIG), as the governing body as it relates to ethics, transparency, an open Government, fight against corruption, conflict of interest and free access to information, in the administrative governmental sphere. The DIGEIG is a body with administrative and financial independence, which has authority to receive complaints of alleged violations to the detriment of the State, in violation of the law of Public Administration (Law 41-08); undertakes administrative investigations as a result of public rumour, with the occurrence of an act or an act of corruption by a public servant; channel the corresponding instances of allegations of acts of public corruption made by individuals or institutions on intentional actions of public officials or employees; submit the facts under investigation to the Public Prosecutor's Office; among others. From that date, the DIGEIG will follow up on the compliance by senior public officials (including the President and VicePresident of the Republic) of the commitment made by the signing the "Code of Ethics Guidelines". The Sworn Declaration of Assets and Illicit Gain Act is in the process of being approved by the National Congress (approved by the Senate of the Republic in June 2012, pending hearing in the Deputies Chamber.) this Law seeks to institute an Automated and Uniformed National System for Sworn Declarations of Assets for Public Officials consistent with constitutional provisions (Article 146 of the Constitution), establishes the institutions responsible for the implementation and to rank their authority, facilitate institutional coordination, promote ethical management, and provide the public Entities of control and investigation of administrative corruption, the policy tools that will allow them to exercise their functions efficiently. This law is part of the commitments made by the country, in the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption of the Organization of American States, and the Convention of the United Nations Organization against Corruption. The law criminalizes the offence of illicit gain by officials of the public sector, with penalties ranging from five (5) to ten (10) years, constituting an offence pre-ceding money-laundering. In the sentence is included, the confiscation of property not proven to be of legitimate origins, and its confiscation in favour of the Dominican State, disqualification from holding public office from two (2) to ten (10) years Legal provisions relating to bank secrecy, fiduciaries or attorneys, they are not impediments to compliance with the law, with the authorities being obligated to provide all of the required information no later than 10 days (Arts. 13-20). On-Site Monitoring: The Superintendency of Banks developed a 23 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country questionnaire for Compliance personnel, with the aim of evaluating the training of personnel and according to their ratings require additional training or a refocusing of the training to be offered. These qualifications are taken into account to establish the Compliance Ranking of the Financial Intermediation and Exchange Entities and with this an awareness of the level of risk of each. -Off-Site Monitoring: We received the "Politically Exposed Persons Reports". This is a monthly report, through which institutions inform of the PEP's that have done business, or have operated accounts. The Superintendency of banks continues forging a risk-based supervision methodology. Currently we are reviewing the procedures for On-site monitoring, in order to make them up to date with the new standards. Additionally been the matrix profiles of risk factors (customers, products, geographical and currency) have been redeveloped. The training plan that the UAF developed with the Reporting Entities, has been focused on customer due diligence, which includes the approval of the Board of Directors to enter into contracts with PEPs 7. Correspond ent banking PC There is no provision requiring It is recommended that banks operating These indications have been included in the Bill to Amend Act 183-02 financial and exchange entities in the Dominican Republic should scrutinise (the Monetary and Financial Act), even though due diligence regarding supervised by the Superintendency of and monitor in greater depth foreign banks management of accounts of and in foreign banks is clearly specified in the Banks to obtain approval of their that are their clients or with which they have “Know Your Customer Guidelines”. This is because they are based on senior management before entering correspondent relationships, that is to say operational and not simply business transactions. (See Act 72-02). In this into new correspondent relations. their foreign client banks. They should respect it is the duty of banking institutions to know with whom they are However, each institution does in fact obtain information on the management, performing transactions do so as part of good banking practice. finances, reputation, regulation and anti- Additionally by virtue of art. 55 Law 72-02, the National Committee money laundering measures applied in the requested from the Monetary Board to exercise the faculties of art. 9 Law. They do not document the overseas bank. They should not simply rely 183-02 to issue regulations in this area and establish minimum requirements AML/CFT responsibilities of the on the fact that a bank has a valid licence to for the initiation of corresponding accounts. financial institutions with which they operate issued by foreign jurisdiction in Circular SB 14/10 issued by the Superintendency of Banks on September maintain correspondent relations. order to accept it for a correspondent 7, 2010 establishes the information requirements for correspondent In the Securities and Insurance account. Markets no special AML/CFT measure relationships. Circular SB 13/10 of the same date updates the Instructions on It is advisable for banks in the Dominican CDD. Circular SB 14/10 was issued without prejudice of the regulations that is applied in this area Republic to carry out systematic review of the Monetary Board may issue in the future, as stated in the previous their correspondent accounts with foreign paragraph. banks and ensure that these apply Resolution R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its Article 14, provides for the AML/CFT measures, in order to identify establishment of Cross-border or Similar Correspondent Relations, the 24 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions high risk banks and close accounts with banks that are classified as problematic. Actions Informed by Country following: have sufficient information on the reporting entity represented; be fully aware of the nature of its business; the reputation of the institution and quality of supervision, whether or not it has been investigated or inspected by the AML/CFT control authorities; evaluate AML/CFT controls. It is mandatory to obtain approval from the high ranking directors before establishing new correspondent securities relations with other transnational intermediaries; obligation to document correspondent relations between national and foreign entities. The latter must be authorised to operate in jurisdictions recognised by the Superintendency of Securities (SIV); the reporting entities must notify the SIV of the correspondent relations that they establish and must forward a copy of the agreements and their amendments. With respect to the role and commitment of the Boards of Directors and Senior Management, the reporting entities of the stock exchange sector, Article 26 establishes the obligation of the reporting entities to create and apply proper internal control procedures aimed at AML/CFT measures, by formulating internal policies, procedures and controls, appointing a Compliance Officer, establishing an ongoing employee training programme and conducting internal and external audits to test the system, which must be approved by the Administrative Council or the equivalent body of the reporting entity and submitted to the SIV for approval, when requesting its registration in the Registry for the Securities Market and Products. The existing entities must present the aforementioned Manual within a period of 120 days counted from the publication of the regulations. Of the 19 countries with which the EIFC’s conduct correspondent transactions, only one was on the OECD’s list as a tax haven, having been removed from said list in October 2011. The Superintendency of Banks, receives every six months, "Correspondent Banking Reports". Through this Report, the entities report with which banks they hold correspondent accounts, its location and the amount they work with. This is to measure the degree of risk on the basis of Foreign Banks that operate accounts of local authorities and the volume of its operations. The Superintendency is coordinating the Governmental Commission, which is working to get the Dominican Republic to sign a Compliance Agreement with the United States for the purposes of getting the Dominican institutions compliant with the FATCA Bill. 25 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 8. New technologie s& non faceto-face business 9. Third parties and introducers Rating LC NC Factors underlying rating There is need for mechanisms to measure the frequency and volume of operations, in international wire transfers of funds, for which network of ATMs and correspondent links are used. Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country It is desirable to promote and reinforce The know-your-customer responsibility apply equally to electronic CDD control over framework contracts transactions. The provisions of the “Know Your Customer Instructions” which govern electronic operations apply to e-banking. Non-compliance implies that the finance or exchange characterised by lack of physical presence institution, the Regulated Entity, incurs the risk of being used for money of the parties laundering and the possibility of the corresponding penalties. More specific rules for supervision and The FIU is tasked with formulating a document that can be used as a discipline should be incorporated in the area guide by the DNFBPs in any possible electronic operations. There is need for more specific of telegraphic or electronic financial The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its Article rules for supervision and discipline in operations, not only in order to promote 21, calls for the establishment of policies and procedures regarding specific the area of telegraphic or electronic them and make them more flexible, but to risks associated with business relations or transactions that do not involve financial operations. provide them with security and transparency the physical presence of the parties (not face to face), with the obligation to In the securities and insurance and reduce their risks. give special attention to instruments or new technologies that favour markets no special AML/CFT measure anonymity, for which measures must be adopted in order to avoid their use regarding technological advances in money laundering. generating non face to face operations is applied The Postal Institute of Dominica (INPOSDOM) has recently included in its services, emergency international money orders, which allows for the exchange of electronic money transfers between the Dominican Republic and other countries. To this end, the INPOSDOM successfully uses the International Financial System, a digital tool which facilitates the operation of postal financial services and provides security when carrying out the same. There are no practical measures to Establish specific measures, and In the Dominican Republic there are two (2) Credit Information Bureaux assure Financial and Exchange supervise compliance with them, to require which provide additional information for identification of: ownership of Institutions which enter into contracts banks and exchange institutions to be vehicles, telephone numbers, fiscal register or National Register of with third parties that they will be certain that the third institution on which Taxpayers, and persons either by name or by ID or voter’s card number. provided with the information they rely to apply CDD procedures, will This service is used to verify data in addition to the methods required by the immediately, or that the said third supply them immediately with the “Know Your Customer Instructions” for banking and exchange institutions. parties are under supervision and information they require on the clients, in Other International Information Bureaux may also be used, as well as the regulation. order to be certain that these third free search engines on the worldwide web. This has been recommended to institutions and/or intermediaries are under all regulated entities In the Stock Market and Securities specific AML/CFT regulations, supervision Market no measures have been taken and control. Two new Credit Bureaux have been licensed, for a total of 4 (only two are regarding the content of Rec. 9. Specific regulations should be issued operating). applicable to institutions in the stock market The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its article 13, and securities market establishes the obligations pertaining to transactions with intermediaries or third parties, whether they are conducted through their national branches or subsidiaries abroad or delegate their functions in intermediaries or third parties, and must: identify and verify the customer’s information; identify and verify the final beneficial owner through reasonable measures including, 26 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country when dealing with legal entities, understanding the ownership and control structure of the customer; establish measures to ensure that it will be able to access without delay, personal data and other important documentation related to the CDD procedure of such third parties; be certain that the third party is regulated and supervised and that measures have been taken toward compliance with the CDD procedure. Administrative, civil and criminal responsibility regarding the identification and verification of the customer falls on the reporting entity that uses the services provided by third parties. In cases where transactions are conducted on behalf of third parties, the reporting entities are obligated to demand additional information from their customers in order to learn the identity of the representative, agents and those authorised, as well as that of the persons on whose behalf they are acting, in addition to documentation accrediting their capacity to act duly in the market (article 11 paragraph.) The training plan that the UAF developed with the Reporting Entities, has been focused on customer due diligence, where it is established who is the beneficial owner. 10. Record keeping PC No evidence was observed of on- There is a need for specific measures, site verification of the legal provisions circulars or instructions addressed to falling within the scope of R.10. banking and exchange institutions that provide specific mechanisms or systems for Nor are there any specific measures recording, preserving and managing with for conservation and recording of integrity and security all customer and information. operation information during the ten years In addition, the securities and established for the purpose. insurance Superintendencies have done The National Anti-Money Laundering no work on the subject Committee is urged to initiate, as a matter of urgency, a programme of AML/CFT awareness in the stock market and the insurance market, to induce the respective Superintendencies to properly supervise adequate compliance with regulations for conservation and recording of information, which must be available to the competent authorities. Art. 51 “Documentation of Operations and Submission of Information” of Act 183-02 stipulates that the documentation that authorises operations must be kept on record for 10 years “…in hard copy or whenever feasible by means of computer procedures and optical files and whatever other method the Currency Board may decide”. It further states that the institutions must ensure the integrity of documents and the data therein, whatever the means of filing used. The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee has on several occasions emphasised in writing to the supervisory bodies that they must comply with the provisions of Art. 41 of Anti-Money Laundering Act 7202. Furthermore, as already stated, it has promoted the formation of a Group of Agencies active in prevention, detection and prosecution of ML, with a view to creating synergies The National Committee Against Money Laundering, jointly with the insurance Superintendency, is drafting regulations for insurance companies and intermediaries in order to develop the provisions of contained in art. 235 of Insurance Law No 146 of 2002. Regarding the requirement that companies or companies must keep, record, archive, preserve and / or managing with integrity the documentation relating to the shareholders of the company, society as such and the operations performed during the 10 years this provision is expressly contained in the paragraph 27 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country of Article 32 of Law31-11, the General Law of Corporations and Limited Liability Companies of the such Law. AFP must keep a file of own transactions as well as those accomplished with related persons and managed pension funds. Prior the transaction of a financial instrument, AFP is enforced to record whether it is acting on its own behalf or by account of pension funds, indicating origin, destination and date of the transactions. (Art. 84.- Basic Information Registry). The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its articles 15 to 17, establishes the obligation to save information for 10 years, all correspondence sent and received by the reporting entity documenting the relationship existing between said entity and the customer, as well as the records confirming the carrying out of operations and the preparation of physical, digital or electronic documents and information. This provision includes, by way of regulations, all the areas required in recommendation 10, regarding the stock market sector. This period shall commence from the moment relations are concluded with the customer. The documentation must be classified so as to allow its quick location and access, in addition to protection against fire and destruction. Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-14-MV, in article 5 paragraph II, obligates the reporting entities in the securities sector to have all the documentation available at all times for the IMS, and empowers it to conduct inspections in order to verify compliance with the provisions. At the same time it establishes that where there is no proper documentation that will justify the operation, this cannot be performed. This resolution is binding. See resolution 01-13 of the National Committee against Money Laundering. That the Insurance Sector as reporting, obliged entity maintains records as established by the FIU - FAU in Law 72-02, for this, it will supervise the implementation and compliance with such provision, every 3 months. Training provided to entire Insurance Sector, with special emphasis on enhanced due diligence required to identify real beneficiary. Compliance officers were trained and Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing prevention units were created. With Resolution 01-13 issued by the National Committee against Money Laundering, setting out the monitoring of compliance with Laws 72-02 and 183- 28 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 02, in the work of supervision and inspection we have verified compliance with Recommendation 10 on record keeping which in the Dominican Republic legally is for 10 years 11. Unusual transactions PC In the Stock Market and Insurance Market no policies for monitoring and detection of unusual transactions are implemented. There is a need for greater followup, by the Superintendency of Banks in its inspections, of Warning Signals and Patterns of Behaviour. The Securities and the Insurance Market should develop and introduce AML/CFT measures. The banking institutions should invest in, or strengthen their investment in, specialised software for better monitoring of their various products, services, transactions and operations, among them: online banking, PEP clients, high risk clients, accounts of employees and members of the institution, inactive accounts, credit and debit cards, automatic cashiers, credit lines, credit cards, term certificates cashed before maturity, trusts, safety deposits. Each banking or exchange institution, on its own initiative and in its own interests, should strengthen its internal operations for diligent and effective compliance with the respective manuals or prevention programmes, in order to avoid, detect or report in a timely manner transactions or activities which may be suspected of links with money laundering or financing of terrorism. Therefore, a greater number of patterns of operations that could constitute Warning Signals appropriate to each institution should be included in the manual, since each institution is responsible for knowing its own pattern of business and for weighing its own risks, and should not wait for the Superintendency of Banks to issue such Warning Signals. Specific regulations should be issued for the stock market and insurance market institutions and these entities should have their own prevention manuals and their own Warning Signals. At the present time the Superintendency of Securities has developed scheme of Off- and On-Site verification for supervisory purposes, and the Superintendency of Insurance is engaged in a programme of development of procedures with the same objective. Both are advised by the Superintendency of Banks and private institutions. All banking institutions, whose assets represent 80% of the national financial assets, possess the “Monitor” system, which can be applied to all the services they offer. The National Committee Against Money Laundering, jointly with the insurance Superintendency, is drafting regulations for insurance companies and intermediaries to comply with Rec. 11 Trusts are not a legal concept in the Dominican Republic. A Bill will be put before Congress, but so far there are no standards for regulating this type of business. The Prevention Manuals may contain in their annexes patterns or indicators of operations that should be considered warning signals. These will always be limited, but they provide the Regulated Entities with food for thought. Such patterns are set out in detail in the “Guidelines for Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism fro banking and Exchange Institutions”. Furthermore, every Manual must be approved by the Superintendency of Banks. Any institution violating this requirement is subject to penalties. The Superintendency of Securities requires its regulated institutions to develop a Manual of Prevention. The Superintendency of Insurance, for its part, is, as we have said, in the process of formulating or developing preventive procedures, with the assistance of the Superintendency of Banks The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its Article 26, establishes the obligation of the reporting entities to create and apply proper internal control procedures aimed at AML/CFT measures, by formulating internal policies, procedures and controls, appointing a Compliance Officer, establishing an ongoing employee training programme and conducting internal and external audits to test the efficiency of the system. Article 37 establishes several symbols by way of information. Article 27 establishes the minimum aspects of the content of the Manual for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering and CFT. Article 31 entrusts the compliance officer with the task of designing programmes for follow-up, evaluation and control based on the internal policies, rules and procedures, in addition to 29 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country placing emphasis on training and instruction for the staff of the entity in the area of AML/CFT. The UAF during the period September 2012 - September 2013, received a total of 770,281 reports from the reporting entities, with 7,027 being suspicious operations reports (0.9%) and 763,254 cash transactions reports (99.1%) 12. DNFBPs – R.5, 6, 8-11 NC The overall regulatory regime Modify the cash operations reporting includes the majority of the DNFBPs requirement to require casinos to report indicated in Recommendation 12, but operations in excess of $US 3,000, thus there is no specific regulatory regime adopting the FATF recommended standard. to allow adequate application of antiIn addition, ensure that casinos and other money laundering controls to them. In DNFBPs defined by Act 72-02 comply with this regard specific regulations for each the requirement of submitting these reports sector should be issued, to enable them to the Financial Analysis Unit. to comply with their obligations under Ensure that the DNFBPs stipulated by Act 72-02, adequately and in keeping Act 72-02 comply with the obligations with the nature of their operations. imposed on them as regulated entities by the Act. In this regard it is recommended that Under the interpretative note to the pertinent regulations should be issued in Recommendations 5, 12 and 16, the accordance with the nature of the operations threshold for cash operation reports by conducted by these entities, and that they casinos ought to be $US/€3,000. should comply satisfactorily with antiHowever, in Act 72-02 it is money laundering prevention and detection $10,000.00 or the equivalent in systems. national or foreign currency, so the Carry out statistical studies to determine threshold should be amended in the the weight of each of the DNFBPs in the corresponding regulation. economy of the Dominican Republic, in The FAU did not supply the order to give priority to those that represent Evaluation Commission with any the greatest risk for the country. programme or work plan indicating its The FAU should formulate a work plan intention regarding the achievement of including a timetable for providing full full coverage for the DNFPB sector. coverage of the sector of DNFBPs identified The FAU is just initiating contacts in Act 72-02. with some DNFBPs, and that the Formulate a legal instrument to enable Evaluation Commission noted the the regime of sanctions applicable to the vulnerability of some sectors such as DNFBPs to be put into effect, or else amend the betting industry, which is under the Act 72-02 to empower the FAU to impose obligation of complying with certain the relevant penalties. registration and licensing requirements. Nevertheless the The FAU is tasked with submitting to the National anti-Money Laundering Committee an amendment to Act 72-02 to reflect the limits of reporting according to the sector to which the regulated entity belongs. Once the Committee receives and analyses the draft it will send it to the National Congress for consideration and amendment of the Act. Progress continues to be made in the programme for including DNFPBs. The process has admittedly been slow, but has not halted. The FAU has focused its procedures on what is known as “risk-based supervision”. This means establishing parameters for deciding which sectors and institutions within them may be the most risk-prone, and on this basis concentrating supervisory effort on those which show the greatest vulnerability. The Timetable is being revised in the framework of a new strategic plan. As soon as it is complete we will send it to the Secretariat. The FAU’s power of sanction entails amendment to the law. It will be included in the proposed amendment to Act 72-02. However, we do not consider that this will pose any serious obstacle to the development of an efficient system of sanctions The FAU is actively engaged in an outreach and training program for DNFBPs, especially with realtors, corporate unions and in March/10 they started with casinos. Some enforced subjects of the real estate sector have started to submit reports (ROS). In this year, 2011, a total of 29 ROS have been received. The Dominican Postal Institute started to send reports (ROS-RTE) to UAF since October, 2010. To date 69 reports have been made. Restructuring and strengthening of the Department for the regulation and supervision of DNFBP’s in the area of AML/CFT of the FAU. Greater institutional relations were achieved by the FAU with the representatives of the Dominican Association of Attorneys, the Dominican Association of Notaries and the Dominican Association of Accountants. Activities, workshops, discussions and panels on organised crime, money laundering and financing of terrorism were held across the entire national territory, with 30 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 13. Suspicious transaction reporting Rating PC Factors underlying rating financial information it generates is not followed up, and, according to the relevant authorities, they are under no obligation to report payouts, increases in capital, etc. Act 72-02 contains the provisions relating to administrative penalties for regulated entities. However for the DNFBPs the Act names the Directorate General of Internal Revenue as the competent public body for the imposition of the respective administrative penalties. However, at the date of our visit there was no evidence of this Directorate having imposed any penalties on any DNFBPs. Nor was there any evidence of contacts between the FAU and the Directorate to give effect to the provisions of Act 72-02. procedure should be. Under Act 72-02 the DNFBPs are required to report any suspicious transactions they detect. The DNFBP’s have submitted no STR’s It is important to find out why the DNFBPs have submitted no STRs, to institute the necessary rules and supervision. Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country representatives of the DNFBP’s, to encourage them to dispatch reports. Law 72-02 is in the process of being amended, taking into consideration: a) the experience resulting from 10 years of implementing the law on ML; and b) the 40 revised Recommendations, February 2012. Law 494-06, on Organisation of the Treasury Department (MHA), eliminated regulatory dispersal with respect to games of chance. Said Ministry was awarded exclusive authority for granting licences and for inspecting the operators of that sector, which include lottery games, draws, charity raffles, casinos and gaming establishments, slot machines and other electronic games, bingos and any other manifestation of same. From June 2011, absolute regulatory authority took effect, conferred by law 494-06 on the MHA; as a result of the entry into force of Law 139-11, which, in the area of taxes, charged the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII) with the responsibility of collecting and overseeing taxes related to casinos, lottery outlets, sports betting outlets, slot machines, telephone games and online games. Said concentration of regulatory and tax functions, has promoted a process for drafting rules, designing information systems and creating databases, which must formalise the monitoring of the activities of the sector and the implementation of policies and procedures geared toward mitigating risks in the area of money laundering. The UAF, during the period of October 15, 2012 to September 30, 2013, evaluated, validated, analyzed and digitized, 7,741 reports submitted physically to the UAF, of which the 86.2% corresponds to reports forwarded by financial intermediation and Exchange institutions (6,676) and 13.8% those sent by the DNFBPs. The banks and exchange Steps should be taken to enable all The Financial Intelligence Unit of the National Committee against institutions under the supervision of regulated entities, including banking and Money Laundering, already receives the STRs directly from all reporting the Superintendency of Banks are the exchange institutions, to submit their institutions. only institutions submitting suspicious suspicious transaction reports directly to the A “Strategic Plan UAF 2009-2012” was developed with an explicit transaction reports. This is not done Financial Analysis Unit (FAU) as expressly strategy to reach to, train and oversee the DNFBPs. by institutions in the securities and indicated in Article 41 (5) of Act 72-02, and The transactions, completed or not, which must be analysed as being insurance markets, in which almost no in conformity with FATF recommendation unusual or suspicious are legally established in Decree 20-03 of Act 72work has been done on AML/CFT. 13. The FAU is the only central authority 02, Art. 10, “Mandatory Compliance Programme for Regulated Entities”, competent to “receive, request, analyse and And even the banks and exchange sub- paragraph C distribute” STRs under Article 57 of Act 72- institutions do not submit their STRs to With respect to insurance companies, as stated before, the National 02 and on the basis of FATF the FAU in accordance with Act 72Committee against Money Laundering, jointly with the insurance recommendation 26. In this regards Article 02, but to their own supervisory body Superintendency, is drafting regulations for that sector to comply with this 31 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country through the Financial Intelligence 1, Sub-paragraph 2 of Act 72-02 should be recommendation. Department. revised to expressly include the FAU as the We consider that there is no need to amend Article 1, Sub-paragraph 2 competent authority, which in fact it is. There is no legal requirement of Act 72-02, because the FAU was created as Competent Authority, (see It is important that the FAU should begin obligating the regulated entities to Art. 57 of Act 72-02). This does not affect the enforcement of the Act or issue STRs on attempted or not as soon as possible to exercise its powers of international principles and standards. completed transactions. fully in the matter of STRs. The Superintendence of Values counts on a Manual or Prevention There is no legal requirement for an The FAU and National Anti-Money Program, designed to STR to be issued regardless of whether Laundering Committee are urged to take prevent, detect and report transactions or activities earlier which take susp or not there are tax questions involved. efficient measures to enable insurance and ects that may be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing, as stock market firms and their respective well as their own warning signs .The seats inspected in compliance Superintendencies to adopt and apply with the establishment of a Program on Money AML/CFT mechanisms, especially with Laundering Prevention and therefore have a Policies and regard to prevention programmes and Procedures Manual of money laundering, have a Compliance Officer, who manuals and the submission of STRs. reports Suspicious Transaction, perform external testing program through one of External Auditors. The ROS is analyzed A specific legal requirement should be by the UAF. adopted for the regulated entities to issue Some enforced subjects of the real estate sector have started to submit STRs on attempted or not completed transactions, and also to require an STR to reports (ROS). In this year, 2011, a total of 29 ROS have been received. be issued regardless of whether or not there The Dominican Postal Institute started to send resports (ROS-RTE ) to are tax questions involved. This would UAF since October, 2010. To date 69 reports have been made. avoid anyone alleging that the matter is a The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its fiscal one and should therefore not be article 6, establishes as an obligation, to give special attention to all subject to analysis or investigation for transactions conducted, regardless of amount, which may be linked in money laundering. particular to money laundering; it also establishes the obligation to notify the SIV of complex and unusual transactions within a period of 24 hours from the moment the transaction is carried out or attempted. Articles 35 and following reiterate the remaining regulations on the obligation to inform the FAU of suspicious transactions and activities, carried out or attempted, within 24 hours. Article 40 makes it mandatory to dispatch together with the STR, the documentation supporting the report and the reasons for it being produced. Article 42 underscores the obligation for the reporting entities to refrain from revealing to the customer or third parties the fact that an operation is reported. Financial Reporting Entities RTE received from reporting entities in year 2011 go up to 1, 214, 842 and a total of 13, 591 ROS Reports In 2012, 948, 444 RTE and 7, 830 ROS were received. Non -Financial Designated Business and Professions (DNFBPs) 32 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country RTE Cooperative entity: 102 ROS Sector 4 RTE Insurance Sector 5 Lawyers 1 Since October 2012 and up to May 2013, a total of 16 reporting entities have been trained within DNFBPs, 360 persons in total, where we have trained a Compliance Officer and the Money Laundering Prevention Unit. The UAF during the period September 2012 - September 2013, received a total of 770,281 reports from the reporting entities, with 7,027 being suspicious operations reports (0.9%) and 763,254 cash transactions reports (99.1%) Number of reports submitted by Entities in Financial and Currency Exchange System during the period January 1 to March 25, 2014: 130 STR DNFBP: Number of ROS and RTE, submitted to the UAF, for the period January 1 to 25 of March 2014: 7 STR, 142 RTE. 14. Protection & no tipping-off PC In the Dominican Republic there is no law protecting financial institutions, their management, officers or employees against criminal and civil liability for issuing suspect transactions reports. Specific legal provision should be Although reporting institutions are assumed to be of good faith, since adopted to exempt financial institutions, reporting implies openness on the part of the reporter, and concealment their Directors, officials and employees would be a crime [Translator’s note: this sentence is incomplete in the from criminal, civil or administrative original]. Certainly, a clear legal mechanism must be found to ensure that liability when STRs are submitted. reporting institutions are protected against civil and criminal penalties. This will be taken into account in the amendment to be sent to Congress 33 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 15. Internal controls, compliance & audit Rating PC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Banking and exchange Update the regulations and improve the institutions and the Superintendency profile, functions and capacities of the of Banks largely comply with compliance officers of banking and Recommendation 15. However exchange institutions, particularly as regards there is still no special legislation a) exclusivity of function, b) expressly covering financing of compatibility with other functions in terrorism. This issue was only accordance with the nature, course of covered by best practices guidelines. business, structure, capital, volume of In the securities and insurance activities and funds of the institution and c) markets AML/CFT policies are the role of the compliance officer within the practically non-existent as well as compliance committees and the financial for the supervisor as the supervised groups. entities. The concept of compliance A permanent requirement is for financial officer is not implemented in these institutions to invest in training, technical sectors. infrastructure and specialised advisory services to update all their policies, procedures and internal AML/CFT control measures, adapting them to their particular business regimes and risks, and that these should go beyond the acts, regulations and circulars on the subject. The starting point in this regard should be the assumption that any regulation issued by the State bodies always represents only the minimum requirements to be observed and that it is for each individual financial institution (which is best placed to know its own business), to adopt and apply (with due diligence and in accordance with best practices and international standards) additional measures that may be relevant and effective to deal with its own risks. It should be emphasised that Dominican financial institutitonsshould develop, as part of theirinternal AML/CFT policies, procedures and controls, matrices and maps of risks, taking into consideration various factors such as the following: the institution itself, the customer, the product or service, the distribution channel, the jurisdiction, for the purpose not only of complying with the country’s laws, but also for management, Actions Informed by Country See Official Communications 0310 of 28 January 2004 and 1892 of 07 July 2004, which set out the profile, tasks and scope of the work of the Compliance Officer. They also mandate updating of these officers and contain reminders of their duties. On this basis the Superintendency of Securities has developed a system and the Superintendency of Insurance will do likewise It is legally mandatory for the staff of every regulated entity to keep its staff trained. Any banking or exchange institution which fails to do this may incur penalties. Every institution develops internal training activities and takes part in outside ones. In addition, the Superintendency of Banks promotes one or two training events yearly for institutions and bodies of the securities, insurance and pensions sectors. The institutions are being encouraged to develop customer, product, distribution channel and geographic area risk profiles, to enable more resources to be devoted to higher-risk customers and products. Within the training courses they are furnished with technical tools to help them to accomplish this. Terrorist financing was criminalised in the anti-Terrorism Bill passed in the Chamber of Deputies and now before the Senate for approval and later promulgation by the Executive. Its passage is unlikely to present problems, since there is consensus on the issue. In-house Prevention Policy Manuals, as stated earlier, are issued by each institution and must be approved by the Superintendency of Banks for its supervised entities. The same system applies to the Superintendency of Securities, and is being put into effect in the case of the Superintendency of Insurance. The UAF will implement a new awareness rising program with reporting institutions, as a result of the new strategic plan that is to be developed. Resolución 265-06 issued by the Pensions Superintendence (SIPEN) dated May 11, 2006 enforced AFPs to appoint compliance officers who verify the application of money laundering regulations and provide functions and obligations of such officer. The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its articles 26 to 34, establishes the obligation to create and apply proper internal control procedures, geared toward preventing (concealment, fraud, management and investments of securities) both laundering and financing of terrorism operations; it is mandatory to formulate programmes to prevent such offences, which must include AML/CFT prevention and control, which is 34 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions monitoring and reduction of risk. It is recommended, as sound procedure and best practice, that the Board of Directors or senior management of the various financial institutions should approve AML/CFT prevention programmes and policies and should exercise continual surveillance of their implementation. The Board of Directors and senior management should keep informed of the development of prevention programmes and policies through periodic executive reports at least once every four months. Efforts should be made to coordinate skills for overall consolidated supervision of the financial systems: banking, stock market and insurance, as mandated by Article 1(d) of Act 183-02. The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee should urge the Superintendency of Securities and the Superintendency of Insurance to require institutions in these markets to apply internal AML/CFT procedures and controls, and supervise the operation of such procedures and controls. Develop for the DNFBPs regulations concerning the functions of the compliance officer, and his or her level of independence. Implement special regulations for the DNFBPs concerning vetting procedures for staff, as well as the continuity of checks to be carried out on them during their period of employment. Normar lo relativo a que los NPNFD mantengan una auditoría independiente para comprobar el cumplimiento de las políticas y controles. Carry out the relevant verifications of the DNFBPs concerning compliance with the anti-money laundering norms, in regard to Actions Informed by Country supported by at least four (4) pillars: formulation of internal policies, procedures and controls; the appointment of a Compliance Officer; an ongoing employee training programme; and the conducting of internal and external audits to test the system. Article 50 of the regulations establishes mandatory compliance with same. It is established as mandatory (Articles 29, 30 and 31): a) the creation of a Compliance Committee and Unit; the exclusive functions of the Compliance Officer are those pertaining to the prevention, control and implementation of AML/CFT measures, and the role of the Compliance Officer is defined within the Committee; b) the drafting of a risk matrix that would establish procedures and systems for the periodic evaluation of the risk levels attained by the reporting institution, which must take into account the aspects of laundering and financing of terrorism, in addition to all areas of operation, customers, products and services offered (article 31, subparagraph e) and 32), among others; c) the permanent establishment of a Compliance Committee responsible for drafting the Manual for AML/CFT Prevention and Control Article 46 creates the AML/CFT Prevention and Control Unit of the SIV, an area with technical and operating conditions in order to comply with Law 72-02 on Money Laundering with respect to supervision, prevention, detection and control of the policies implemented by the reporting entities regarding compliance with said law of the new regulations. Included among its functions is the conducting of in situ inspections to verify the fulfilment of the internal prevention and control programmes, among others. The Compliance Committee and Officer are obligated to prepare an Annual Plan for the Follow-up, Evaluation and Control of the AML/CFT Prevention and Detection Programme, for the purpose of verifying the degree of compliance with the regulations in force, the internal plans, programmes and controls adopted (Articles 33 and 34), through internal and external audits. Resolution SIPEN No. 307-10 on Registration of External Auditors. It replaces the Resolution 08-02. This regulation establishes in article 6 that the External Auditors Firms may not provide external audit services to the AFP nor audit the Pension funds in cases where their partners have been declared insolvent, convicted for crimes of an economic nature or of money laundering, declared legally incapable; or convicted by final and irrevocable court to sanctions for criminal offences. Currently, there are five (5) AFP: AFP Popular, AFP Siembra; AFP Reservas; AFP Scotia Crecer and AFP Romana. 35 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions the compliance officer, audit functions, knowledge of employees and other obligations included in the rules. Actions Informed by Country Draft Resolution that sets the standards of corporate governance for Pension Fund Administrators This draft, which is being negotiated with the AFP sets out that persons who have been declared insolvent and those convicted for crimes of an economic nature or money laundering may not be part of the Board of Directors of an AFP 16. DNFBP– R.13-15 & 21 NC Act 72-02 requires DNFBPs to Carry out the necessary verification to report suspicious transactions they determine whether the DNFBPs comply detect. Despite the above, the reasons with the provisions of Act 72-02 concerning for the DNFBPs not submitting any the detection and reporting of suspicious suspicious transaction reports should transactions, since at the date of the visit of be investigated. the present Evaluation Commission, this sector had presented no suspicious In addition, in accordance with transaction reports Evaluation Criterion 13, transactions Regulations concerning financing of related to financing of terrorism should be taken into consideration, however terrorism should be issued to enable the there is no CFT legislation enacted. DNFBPs to report suspicious transactions relating to this subject. The reasons for the DNFBPs not having presented any suspicious transaction reports should be investigated, regulated and supervised. There are no CFT laws requiring compliance by DNFBPs. The FAU has recently initiated contacts with some DNFBPs.In the institutions visited as a result during the evaluation, no compliance officers had been appointed nor had any of the As mentioned earlier, the FAU will put into effect a new awarenessbuilding programme for regulated entities, as will part of the new strategic plan to be formulated. Since 1970 terrorism has been a serious offence, and therefore a predicate offence for money laundering. This helped the authorities to put in place the compliance standards in the banking and exchange institutions following the events of 11 September 2001. As mentioned earlier, terrorist financing was criminalised in the anti-Terrorism Bill passed in the Chamber of Deputies and now before the Senate for approval and later promulgation by the Executive. Its passage is unlikely to present problems, since there is consensus on the issue. Some enforced subjects of the real estate sector have started to submit reports (ROS). In this year, 2011, a total of 29 ROS have been received. The Dominican Postal Institute started to send reports (ROS-RTE ) to UAF since October, 2010. To date 69 reports have been made. The UAF during the period September 2012 - September 2013, received a total of 770,281 reports from the reporting entities, with 7,027 being suspicious operations reports (0.9%) and 763,254 cash transactions reports (99.1%) 36 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 17. Sanctions Rating PC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country ML prevention policies and procedures The reporting Entities; Insurance, Independent required by Act 72-02 been Professionals, Real Estate Agents, Credit Unions, have their implemented. compliance officer and they are reporting both ROS as RTE to Nothing was discovered in the antithe UAF, a result of the training they have received. money laundering rules concerning the functions of the compliance officers DNFBP: Number of STR and RTE, referred to the UAF, for the appointed by DNFBPs, or their duties, period January 1 to 25 of March 2014: 7 STR, 142 RTE and therefore there is no certainty as to the level of independence they enjoy. Nothing was found to indicate the extent of the vetting that DNFBPs should apply to their employees before recruitment, or in the course of their employment. Nothing was found in the antimoney laundering rules to indicate that the DNFBPs are required to maintain a system of independent audit to prove compliance with policies and controls. At the date of the visit of the Evaluation Commission the relevant verification of the DNFBPs had not been carried out to determine whether or not they are in compliance with the provisions of Act 72-02. That is to say, the FAU presented no evidence that such a review had been carried out. There is no law against financing of terrorism. According to the supervised The Superintendencies of Banks, Sanctions, and the bodies responsible for applying them, are clearly set entities, in practice neither the Securities and Insurance should apply out in Act 72-02. When the Act was drafted it was assumed that the FAU Superintendency of Banks, of efficient, proportionate and dissuasive would be a purely administrative body, with no power of sanction. It is Insurance or of Securities has imposed administrative penalties for non-compliance intended to endow it with such powers in the amendment to be requested a single administrative penalty for on the part of the financial institutions with of Congress. What remains to be done is to develop the procedures for AML issues. However, the regard to AML/CFT prevention, since up to enforcement. Superintendency of Banks provided us the present they have not imposed a single To date, some institutions have been penalised for non-compliance with with figures showing 2 penalties penalty in this area. For dissuasive purposes Act 72-02, following on-site and off-site verifications or inspections by imposed in 2002 and 9 in 2003. it is desirable that these penalties should be the Superintendency of Banks published in the national print media, in At the time of the visit of the The Superintendence of Banks closed from May 2009 until accordance with the relevant legislation. Mission no criminal, civil or December 2010, four (4)Financial Intermediation 37 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions administrative penalty in the area of Acts 183-02 and 146-02 and 19-2000 financing of terrorism was provided. should include the possibility of revoking, To date of the visit of the restricting or suspending the respective Evaluation Commission, there was no operating licences of entities under the evidence of any active control or supervision of the Superintendencies of sanction having been applied to the Banks, Insurance and Securities DNFBPs by the Directorate General of respectively. Internal Revenue. Act 72-02 should be amended to make Nor was there any evidence of the Superintendencies of Insurance and contacts with the FAU and this Securities competent authorities for the Directorate to formulate the respective application of AML penalties. legal mechanisms to enforce the sanctions provided in Act 72-02. The FAU has no programmes, plans or work timetables, supported by resources, for identification of DNFBPs and their incorporation as regulated entities. There is no sanctions regime for DNFBPs. There is no law against financing of terrorism. There are no relevant regulations for adequate control of DNFBPs. Actions Informed by Country Institutions and 46 Exchange Agencies, by not having the appropriate authority and for failing to comply with the Law on Money Laundering1972-1902. In accordance with paragraph “m” of Article 108 of Law 87-01, the Pensions Superintendence is empowered to impose fines and penalties to Pension Fund Administrators and currently has a great number of resolutions such as 265-06, 307-10, 78-03, 316-11 and 02-02, which fully implement to prevent money laundering. Likewise, SIPEN is empowered to close and charge fines to individuals or entities that operate in an illegal or irregular manner. It may decide on the closing of activity, or imposition of a penalty regardless of the criminal and/or civil liability applicable. (Art. 90) The Internal Taxes General Direction (DGII) through General Regulation 06-2011 dated June 29, 2011 is empowered to apply sanctions over closure of establishment to lottery banks and sport bets that operate without authorization regardless of other applicable penalties. Such regulation enforces these establishments to monthly submit affidavits evidencing: gross sales of the term and liquidation of paid prizes. Although this is a tax measure represents an improvement in the registration of lottery and bet banks, as well as fiscalization of profits thereof. The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV establishes, in the event of non-compliance with this regulation, the enforcement of administrative penalties that correspond by virtue of Law 19-00, its Regulations on Enforcement and other complementary regulations. In 2011, the SIB processed fifteen (15) requests for penalties: 10 for exchange agents; 3 for multiple banks; and 2 for exchange and remittance agents. Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-14-MV sets out in article 6, mandatory compliance with this standard, and provides that the breach, failure, omission or negligence of same, shall be liable to administrative sanctions The Sworn Declaration of Assets and Illicit Gain Act is in the process of being approved by the National Congress (approved by the Senate of the Republic in June 2012, pending hearing in the Chamber of Deputies.) It criminalizes the offense of Illicit Gain by officials in the public sector, with penalties ranging from five (5) to ten (10) years), constituting an offense precedent to money laundering. In the sentence is included, the confiscation of property not proven to be of legitimate origins, and its confiscation in favour of the Dominican State, disqualification from holding public office from two (2) to ten (10) years. Resolution SIPEN No. 307-10 on Registration of External Auditors. 38 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country It replaces the Resolution 08-02. This regulation establishes in article 6 that the External Auditors Firms may not provide external audit services to the AFP nor audit the Pension funds in cases where their partners have been declared insolvent, convicted for crimes of an economic nature or of money laundering, declared legally incapable; or convicted by final and irrevocable court to sanctions for criminal offences. Currently, there are five (5) AFP: AFP Popular, AFP Siembra; AFP Reservas; AFP Scotia Crecer and AFP Romana 18. Shell banks 19. Other forms of reporting PC PC There are no penalties applicable It is advisable for banks in the Dominican explicitly to non-observance of the Republic to undertake systematic review of prohibition against setting up shell their correspondent accounts with foreign banks. banks, and make certain that these apply AML/CFT measures, in order to identify The Evaluation Commission did not high risk banks and close accounts with obtain access to specific information banks classed as problematic. attesting to the application by financial Efficient, proportionate and dissuasive institutions of specific and effective measures to avoid their correspondent penalties for non-compliance with the ban accounts being used by shell banks. on setting up shell banks should be included in the Regulations for Investments Abroad and Opening of Cross Border Institutions, or in some other instrument. There should be a specific ban, with appropriate penalties, for maintaining correspondent links with Shell banks. Without prejudice to the prohibitions and penalties that might be established for shell banks, the financial institutions should promote self-regulation on the subject in their own interest and in consideration of their own risks. The only regulated entities which up to the moment submit cash transactions reports for amounts equal to or in excess of $US10,000 or the equivalent, are the banking and exchange institutions under the supervision of the Superintendency of The other reporting institutions (from the securities and insurance markets) should submit this [CTR] type of report to the UAF. A customer is a physical or legal person with whom any kind of business is carried on. In this regard, knowing your customer entails knowing with whom any business, either active or passive, is being done. Art. 41 (1) of Act 72-02 is very clear on the subject. There is certainly need to broaden the concepts, in order to specifically include aspects related to corresponding account services, and other details. Anonymous or fictitious accounts are forbidden (See Art. 41 (1) of Act 72-02). No institution should therefore open accounts with phantom enterprises, or enterprises that increase the level of risk. We reiterate that shell banks do no exist in the Dominican Republic; in order to operate in the country every financial institution must comply with article 68, a) of the Monetary and Financial Law 183-02. Through Circular SB No.14/10 of sept. 7/2010, the Superintendency of Banks established the requirements for correspondent accounts. The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, sub-paragraph g) of Article 14, prohibits reporting entities in the stock market sector from continuing correspondent relations with shell banks or securities intermediaries. It also provides that continued relations must be avoided with correspondent foreign financial institutions when they permit their accounts to be used by shell banks or business entities. (Applicable penalty sub-paragraph f) article 112, law 19-00) The FAU is receiving cash transaction reports from the securities sector, and work is being done on the procedures to apply them to the insurance sector. The pensions sector has its own procedures. It should be repeated that the FAU is tasked with revising the Strategic Plan to encompass all regulated entities, basically the DNFBPs The Superintendence of Banks, through Circular No. 016/10 established for receiving cash through a 39 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating 20. Other NFBP & secure transaction techniques NC 21. Special attention for higher risk countries PC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Banks. The Central Bank also reports window at night (Night Deposit), an alternative procedure for the proper these to the Superintendency of Banks. filling of the records of cash transactions (RTE) exceeding national currency The other regulated entities do not Equivalent of U.S. $ 10,000.00, according to the Buying Rate of The comply with this requirement of Central Bank. reporting to the FAU. Structured transactions should be reported directly to the FAU, but in practice the banking and exchange institutions submit them to the Superintendency of Banks, whose Financial Intelligence Department is not an FAU. At the date of the visit of Evaluation Commission (October 2005), the FAU (in existence for just six months) had not received or analysed any cash transaction reports, let alone used one in financing of terrorism cases, since this is not provided for in the Act. Specific laws and regulations Develop specific anti-money laundering It has already been pointed out that progress continues to be made in the should be adopted, DNFBPs should be and Act 72-02 compliance laws and programme for including DNFPBs. The process has admittedly been slow, supervised and the sanctions regime regulations for DNFBPs, and, among other but it has not halted. should be amended to enable it to be measures, apply adequate supervision to the The FAU has focused its procedures on what is known as “risk-based enforced by the Financial Analysis sectors to which they belong; and amend the supervision”. This means establishing parameters for deciding which Unit. regime of sanctions. sectors and institutions within them may be the most risk-prone, and on this The Dominican Republic should Pass the Act against Terrorist Financing, basis concentrating supervisory effort on those which show the greatest adopt and enforce as soon as possible to enable the DNFBPs who are regulated vulnerability. the Financing of Terrorism Act. entities to prevent, detect and recognise this The Timetable is being revised in the framework of a new strategic plan. offence. As soon as it is complete we will send it to the Secretariat. The new anti-Terrorism Law No. 267-08 is in force since July 4 of 2008. This Act criminalises terrorist financing as a serious offence. The Tax authorities (Dirección General de Ingresos), by Resolution 6-10 of September 6 2010, established that tax payers will not be allowed to deduct any costs that are paid in cash above RD$50,000. This measure, although of a tax nature, is also a disincentive for the use of cash and helps individualize the beneficiary of such payments. In the Stock and Insurance Markets Strengthen on-site supervision in As already mentioned, the Superintendence of Banks, together with the there are no warning signs concerning coordination with off-site supervision, in International Monetary Fund, is designing a set of supervisory policies run of business, and there are no order to determine the application by the based on on-site and off-site risks. The programme will be complete by the practical countermeasures when the banking and exchange institutions of the beginning of 2009. We are at present in the third of four phases. As regards operations involve a country Warning Signals issued by the warning signals, these are contained in the “Guidelines…”, which is 40 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating considered “high risk”. Recommended Actions Superintendency of Banks. Specific countermeasures should be applied to cases in which a country is involved that have been classed as non-cooperating with international AML/CFT standards. Actions Informed by Country structured according to the FATF 40+9 Recommendations. The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, sub-paragraph e) of Article 12, calls on the reporting entities to take measures toward due diligence procedures and to give special attention to business relationships and transactions with persons, financial companies and institutions, from countries that do not or insufficiently apply the FATF Recommendations. Sub-paragraph h) of Article 29, charges the Compliance Committee and Officer with the task of preparing a list of countries that do not or scarcely comply with the FATF Recommendations, based on what is provided in this recommendation and in No. 22. It also entrusts the Compliance Officer (subparagraph x) Article 31) with the task of verifying the transactions of customers in non-collaborating countries. The Superintendency of Banks, receives every six months, "Correspondent Banking Reports". Through this Report, the entities report with which banks they hold correspondent accounts, its location and the amount they work with. This is to measure the degree of risk on the basis of Foreign Banks that operate accounts of local authorities and the volume of its operations. The Superintendency is coordinating the Governmental Commission, which is working to get the Dominican Republic to sign a Compliance Agreement with the United States for the purposes of getting the Dominican institutions compliant with the FATCA Bill. 22. Foreign branches & subsidiarie s PC Although there are regulations for The content of FATF Recommendation the operation of branches, affiliates, 22 (Measures for Overseas Branches and agencies and representative offices Subsidiaries) should be incorporated in the abroad, and for consolidated legislation. supervision, these do not embody the content of Recommendation 22 (measures for branches and subsidiaries abroad). The regulations also do not include the subject of prevention of financing of terrorism. There is no Dominican owned bank in any territory or country with which the Dominican Republic does not have an agreement of understanding for the purposes of consolidated supervision. In fact, two inspections have been performed to date. With respect to foreign branches and subsidiaries, we reiterate that there are clear provisions on shareholder control of Correspondent Banking by the Financial Intermediaries (See Regulation on Cross-border Transactions). We admit that in legal terms, there is nothing that limits the participation of the Financial Groups or Holdings, in shareholdings in Off-shore Banks, which does not limit the supervisory capacity in the entities that constitute the group. All matters related to this have been included in the Bill for the Amendment of Law 183-02 (Monetary and Financial). 41 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 23. Regulation, supervision and monitoring Rating PC Factors underlying rating The Evaluation Commission did not obtain access to reports of consolidated supervision. In the securities market and the insurance market, practically no work is being done in this area. The evaluation mission had access to only a single specimen or copy of draft on-sit inspection report. It is considered that a single specimen is not sufficiently representative to permit a conclusive assessment of the adequacy of inspection. There appears to be a lack of coordination between the Financial Intelligence Department (off-site work) of the Superintendency of Banks and the inspection departments (on-site work) regarding the issuance, feedback and follow-up of inspection reports. The evaluation mission obtained no statistics on the on-site ALM/CFT inspections carried out by the Superintendency of Banks in the financial and exchange institutions under its control. Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Pension Fund Administrators (AFP) authorised to operate by SIPEN must have national presence. Agencies and offices that operate abroad to provide services to resident Dominican immigrants must also be authorised by SIPEN (Art. 80. Law 87-01 that creates the Dominican Social Security System) The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, in its article 13, provides that in the exercising of their duties, the reporting entities that carry out activities through one of their national branches or via subsidiaries abroad and/or delegate their functions in intermediaries or third parties, so as to attract new business, in addition to the CDD procedures, must establish measures to ensure access to the customer’s information, including documentation, ensure that the third parties are regulated and supervised and that there is compliance with the CDD procedure in accordance with Recommendations 5 and 10 of the FATF. Article 14 f) stipulates that in the case of other foreign subsidiaries or branches, authorised to operate within a recognised jurisdiction, inclusive correspondent relations shall be maintained with their own parent company or with an affiliate. The reporting entities must notify the Superintendency of Securities of the correspondent relations that they establish and must forward to it a copy of the pertinent agreements or arrangements and their amendments, if any. The Acts governing the insurance and securities markets should include express provisions for AML/CFT supervision and sanctioning. Act 183-02, the Monetary and Finance Act, the Monetary and Financial Regulations, the Regulations for the Opening and Operation of Financial Intermediation Institutions and Representation Offices, should contain the specific fitness requirements for Directors and senior management of banking and exchange institutions, including business knowledge and moral integrity, and should give the supervisory entity the express power to remove from such posts persons The planned amendment, to Law 72-02, broadening the category of Competent Authorities is expected, so that each Agency can develop Information and Prevention Units of an "Institutional" nature in their structures, which in turn will be the points of contact with the UAF, which is the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit. If Articles: 37 Authorization requirements; 38, Corporate Standards; 39, Participation of Foreign Investment in Financial Intermediation and Representative Offices, and 80 Criminal Standards; of Law 183-02, are verified, Monetary and Financial, it will be understood that the issues of Cabinet are treated. The Superintendency of Banks issued the "Code of Conduct for the National Financial System" which is still in force was issued at the end of the 90’s. In addition, the Monetary Board issued a Resolution for Corporate Governance. The Law against Terrorism has been approved and enacted with Law No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalizes the Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Crime (Art. 25). The Minimum Penalty is 42 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions who do not meet these standards. Among the fitness requirements for directors and senior management of A code of fitness and conduct for regulated entities (for granting of shareholders, Directors and licences), the legislation contains no managers of financial, exchange, express requirement for such officers stock market and insurance to have knowledge of the business, institutions should be issued. which would also entail knowledge of Acts 183-02, 146-02 and 19-2000 the risks inherent in it, including ML should include the power to revoke, and FT. restrict or suspend the respective Institutions in the Insurance and operating licences for institutions Stock Markets, and their respective under the supervision of the Superintendencies, are yet to develop Superintendency of Banks, AML/CFT prevention, monitoring and Insurance and Securities supervision measures. respectively, when these are discovered to be controlled by Financing of Terrorism is not organised crime. criminalised. The concept of “moral solvency” of The relevant legislation do not shareholders and directors should be further include the power to revoke, restrict or developed in Act 19-2000, the Securities suspend the respective operating Market Act and Act 146-02, the Insurance licences for institutions under the and Guarantees Act. supervision of the Superintendency of Banks, Insurance and Securities Legislation against Financing of respectively, when these are Terrorism needs to be introduced to more discovered to be controlled by solid legal grounds, other than “best organised crime. practice”, to the current internal control requirements in this area. Act 19-2000, the Securities Market Act and Act 146-02, the Insurance and Guarantees Act, contain only general provisions concerning “moral solvency” of shareholders and directors and so further development of this aspect is required. The Superintendencies of Insurance and Securities carry out no specific AML/CFT supervision Actions Informed by Country greater than or equal to three (03) years, so it falls into the category of Serious Crime as stipulated in the Dominican Criminal Code. All reporting entities have the responsibility to report operations which they believe are suspicious, legally, as was established before as good practice. The Superintendence of Values has the option to suspend or terminate the activities of one of a sector obligated (Art. 112 and 116 of Law 1900 of the Values Market and its implementing regulations, Decree No. 729-04, Articles. 171 and 172). Resolution 02-02 of SIPEN provides information required on shareholders of AFPs which include, in addition to general information, a declaration containing equity links and/or professional links existing with other entities, as well as the interest of direct relatives in companies whenever exceeding 3%. In case of companies, financial statements, list of shareholders with relevant interest are required, as well as equity links and economic and financial projection of the firm for the first 10 years. Resolution 316-05 issued by SIPEN enforces AFPs to submit a copy of all ordinary and extraordinary shareholders meetings duly certified and recorded within a term not exceeding 10 working days after accomplishment and to immediately report change of shareholders and managers which strengthens corporate control measures. The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV, (article 46), creates in the SIV, a unit for the internal technical and operating conditions for complying with the Law on Money Laundering and with the provisions of the Law on Terrorism, responsible for the prevention and control of money laundering and financing of terrorism, through which the reporting entities will be supervised with respect to the obligations established in these regulations. The INPOSDOM (state Postal services) works on a National Project for the Reform of the Postal Sector, which includes among its main actions the reform of the legal framework of the sector and the establishment of a regulating Body, whose functions will include the development and monitoring of standards and regulations related to postal security and the anti money laundering system. Law 183, in its articles 42 to 48, indicates that the Superintendent of Banks sanctions financial and exchange intermediaries that are being controlled by organized crime. 43 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country On-Site Monitoring: The Superintendency of Banks developed a questionnaire for Compliance personnel, with the aim of evaluating the training of personnel and according to their ratings require additional training or a refocusing of the training to be offered. These qualifications are taken into account to establish the Compliance Ranking of the Financial Intermediation and Exchange Entities and with this an awareness of the level of risk of each. -Off-Site Monitoring: We received the "Politically Exposed Persons Reports". This is a monthly report, through which institutions inform of the PEP's that have done business, or have operated accounts. 24. DNFBP regulation, supervision and monitoring NC There is no monitoring of the financial behaviour of casinos nor supervision of their AML compliance. There was nothing to indicate that the DNFPBs are subject to a broad regime of supervision that would ensure their effective implementation of AML/CFT measures, since no documentary evidence was obtained indicating any attempt to develop mechanisms to pool the efforts of the FAU and the Ministry of Finance (Casinos Commission) in the interest of collaboration for verification of compliance by Casinos with antimoney laundering regulations. On the same lines, as regards the scope of the regulatory and supervisory regime, there was also nothing to show that any approach was being made, where needed, to the entities responsible for authorising DNFPBs. Implement legal mechanisms for collaboration in AML compliance verification between the FAU and the bodies responsible for licensing some DNFBPs. Failing this, the FAU should develop programmes, plans or working timetables, supported with the necessary resources, for identification of DNFBPs and their incorporation as regulated entities. Issue the necessary regulations for proper control of the DNFBPs, since such regulations must be adapted to the type of operations they carry out. There is need for more monitoring of and supervision of the financial behaviour of casinos in order for them to comply with AML measures There is need for more poling of efforts between the FAU and the Ministry of Finance (Casino Commission), on verification and compliance with the antimoney laundering laws and regulations by The Superintendency of banks continues forging a risk-based supervision methodology. Currently we are reviewing the procedures for On-site monitoring, in order to make them up to date with the new standards. Additionally been the matrix profiles of risk factors (customers, products, geographical and currency) have been redeveloped As already noted, the FAU is in the process of revising a Strategic Plan, which will make it possible to require DNFBPs to report suspicious transactions and put into effect preventive measures. The Ministry of Finance is reorganising its Casinos Department to implement an efficient supervision policy. It has contacted the FAU and the Superintendency of Banks for technical support. Description of the courses conducted by the UAF during the period January to August 2013 to the DNFBPs including the reporting entities of the Financial Sector (Insurance and Credit Unions) which were left out of the process of training and supervision by their State regulators 04/01/2013 Santo Domingo Credit Union Bohechío lounge of the Santo Domingo Hotel Training workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money - Laundering. 12/01/2013 Santiago Rodriguez Credit Union Conferences Hall of Headquarters of the Mamoncito Credit Union. Training 44 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating There is a need for specific regulation concerning the activities of casinos and other DNFBPs. In view of the lack of anti-terrorist financing laws or regulations, there is non-compliance in this area. Nor was there any evidence of any plan to broaden in the short term the regime of regulation and supervision of the DNFPBs, since at the time of the evaluation mission’s visit, that FAU showed no project, programme or working timetable to indicate how DNFPBs are to be brought under the umbrella of regulated entities, in order to acquaint them with their obligations under Act 72-02. Recommended Actions the Casinos. Actions Informed by Country workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money laundering. 17/01/2013 Casinos Santo Domingo Ministry of Finance Continuity of the outreach process of Both institutions (UAFMinistry of Finance) to train the Casinos on Law 72-02 and Prevention of the Money laundering 19/01/2013 Santiago Credit Union Headquarters of the Santiago Medical Credit Union Training Workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money laundering. 02/02/2013 Santiago Credit Union Headquarters of the Santiago Medical Credit Union 2nd Training Workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money laundering 07/02/2013 Santo Domingo Credit Union Headquarters of Cooperativa Credit Union Training Workshop on Law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering 10/02/2013 Santiago Credit Union Headquarters of the San Jose Credit Union Training workshop on law 72-02 and Prevention of money laundering of assets. Explanation of want the UAF is and how correctly fill out the STR and SAR report forms. 45 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 15/02/2013 Santo Domingo Insurers Conference Room of the Insurance and Reinsurance Chamber of the Dominican Republic INC. (CADOAR) Prevention of Money laundering in the Dominican Republic’s Insurance Sector. 19/02/2013 Importation and sale of new vehicles Distrito Nacional Main Hall of Vehicle Dealers and Makers Association (ACOFAVE) Training workshop on law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering. Explanation what is the UAF and how to correctly fill out the STR and SAR report forms. 21/02/2013 Casinos Santo Domingo Act Hall of the Ministry of Finance Training workshop on law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering 06/03/2013 Santo Domingo Realtors Conference Hall of the National Drug Council Measures for the prevention of money laundering in real estate Sector and Law 72-02 on money laundering. 15/03/2013 Information of identification of reporting entities. Santo Domingo Mapas GAAR S.R.L Meeting with Mr. Cristian Mejía G. President of Mapas GAAR S.R.L.; where the 46 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country generation of information on reporting entities was requested of him. 10/04/2013 Casinos Santo Domingo Este Hotel Aurora Measures of prevention of money laundering and Law 72-02 13/04/2013 Cooperative Las Matas de Farfan Credit Union Club of the Coopcentral of the Matas of Farfan Training workshop on Law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering. 11/05/2013 Dajabón Credit Union Office of the Coopbueno Credit Union Training workshop on law 72-02 and the Role and legal implications of the reporting entities. 22/05/2013 Permits for Construction Santo Domingo Urban Planning of the Town Hall of Distrito Nacional. Visit to the Director of the Department of Urban Planning of City Hall from the D.N., in order to request the data base for the permits granted by the City Council of the DN for the construction of towers and buildings in this district. 47 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 05/06/2013 Lawyers Santo Domingo Act Hall of the National Drug Council. Workshop on Law 72-02 on money laundering and "The role of the Lawyer in the face of Drug Prevention” 11/06/2013 Real Estate Santo Domingo Auditorium of the Pedro Mir Charla Library –Conference "Money laundering in Real Estate Sector: Legal implications of the Reporting Entities" 13/06/2013 Lawyers Santo Domingo Headquarters of Lawyers Bar of the Dominican Republic. Meeting with the President of the Lawyers’ Bar Dr. Jose Fernando Perez Volquez, to encourage participation in the Draft Court Policy for the Treatment of Drug addicts under Judicial Supervision. 13/06/2013 Notary Santo Domingo Headquarters of the Notaries Bar the Dominican Republic. Meeting with the President of the Notaries Association Dr. Rodolfo Perez Mota, to encourage participation in the Draft Court Policy for the Treatment of Drug addicts under Judicial Supervision 19/06/2013 Permits for Construction Santo Domingo Urban Planning of the Town Hall of Distrito Nacional. Training workshop for the Urban Planning Directorate of the Town Hall of the National District and its role in the Fight against Money 48 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country laundering and compliance with Law 72-02 03/07/2013 Lawyers Distrito Nacional Headquarters of the Lawyers Bar of the Dominican Republic Training workshop on Law 72-02 and the Role of reporting entities (Lawyers) 06/07/2013 Las Matas de Farfan Credit Union Club of the Coopcentral of the Matas of Farfan Training workshop for Credit Unions and reinforcement of the compliance officers 27/07/2013 Real estate Santiago de los Caballeros Hotel Aloha Sol Training workshop for the Association of Real Estate Companies (AEI) and reinforcement of compliance officers 01/08/2013 NGOs Distrito Nacional Alliance of NGOs meeting with Lic. Addys Then, Executive Director of the Alliance of NGOs, with the aim of following up on the training given to NGOs and establish communication channels between the UAF and this sector. 08/02/2013 Reporting Entities from different areas. Distrito Nacional Conference Hall of the National Drug Council Training workshop on the framework of the Diplomat in Drug prevention: Law and Public Safety and Law 72-02. 49 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 06/08/2013 NGO Distrito Nacional Alliance of NGO Inspection Visit to the Alliance of NGOs and Follow-up of non-financial reporting entities that have been trained by the UAF. 27/08/2013 Jewelry Stores Distrito Nacional Meeting Room of Financial Analysis Unit Training workshop to the Dominican Jewelers Association (ASODOJO) on Law 72-02 and the prevention of money laundering 02 – 06 September, 2013, Training workshop on prevention of the money laundering and financing of terrorism in the DNFBPs and certain financial institutions conducted by the CFATF, in the facilities of the DNCD. International Speakers Gonzalo Gonzales and Andrés Martínez Calvo. During the period May 2013 - March 2014 834 persons were trained from the following Reporting Entities. 1- Reporting Entity : Cooperativa Bueno Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Local del Cooperativa Bueno Province: Dajabón Date 11/05/2013 Participant: 32 2- Reporting Entity: Lawyers - Notaries Subject: The role of the Lawyer in Drug Prevention Place: Salón de Actos del Consejo nacional de Drogas Province: Distrito Nacional Date 05/06/2013 Participants: 86 50 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 3- Reporting Entity: Lawyers Subject: Money Laundering in the Real Estate sector: Legal Implications for the Reporting Entities Place: Auditorium of the Pedro Mir Library, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo Province: Distrito Nacional Date 11/06/2013 Participants: 42 4- Reporting Entity: Dirección de Planeamiento Urbano del Ayuntamiento del Distrito Nacional Directorate of urban planning of the City Council of the District National Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: the Financial Analysis Unit Conference Hall Province: Distrito Nacional Date 19/06/2013 Participants: 25 5- Reporting Entity: Lawyers Subject: Prevención del Lavado de Activos y el Rol de los Sujetos Obligados (Abogados) Prevention of money laundering and the role of the obligated entities (lawyers) Place: salón de conferencias del Colegio de Abogados the Bar Association Conference Province: Distrito Nacional Date 03/07/2013 Participants: 150 6- Reporting Entity: Cooperativa Central de las Matas de Farfán Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Club de la Coopcentral de las Matas de Farfán Province: San Juan de la Maguana Date 06/07/2013 Participants: 56 51 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 7- Reporting Entity: Association of Real Estate Companies (AEI), Santiago Chapter Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Hotel Aloha Sol Province: Santiago de Los Caballeros Date 27/07/2013 Participants: 56 8- Reporting Entity: Abogados Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Conference Hall for the National Drug Council Province: Distrito Nacional Date 02/08/2013 Participants: 58 9- Reporting Entity: Dominican Association of Jewellers (ASODOJO) Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Conference Hall The Financial Analysis Unit Province: Distrito Nacional Date 27/08/2013 Participants: 9 10- Reporting Entity: Profesionales Liberales y Militares Subject: Drug trafficking, related offences and its relationship with the security Place: Escuela de Graduados de Altos Estudios Estratégicos (AGAE) Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas Province: Distrito Nacional Date 26/09/2013 Participants: 34 11- Reporting Entity: Estudiantes de Derecho Utesa Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism 52 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Place: Auditorio de la Universidad Utesa Province: Distrito Nacional Date 24/10/2013 Participants: 53 12- Reporting Entity: Abogados y Notarios Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Universidad Unicaribe Province: Distrito Nacional Date 12/11/2013 Participants: 103 13- Reporting Entity: Puestos de Bolsa de Productos Agroempresarial de la RD. Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Auditorio de la Junta Agroempresarial de la República Dominicana (JARD) Province: Distrito Nacional Date 05/03/2014 Participants: 43 14- Reporting Entity: Asociación de Puesto de Bola de Valores Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Salón Caonabo del Hotel Magna 360 Province: Distrito Nacional Date 08/03/2014 Participants: 65 15- Reporting Entity: Cooperativa de Servicios (COOPADEPE) Subject: Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism Place: Salón de conferencias de la Cooperativa de Servicios (COOPADEPE Province: Moca, Espaillat Date 15/03/2014 53 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Participants: 22 So far insurance and stock broking The Superintendency of Banks and the The General Plan includes a provision for STRs to be transmitted firms have not begun to work on Financial Analysis Unit should issue electronically, encrypted. The system as regards the Superintendency of AML/CFT, nor have their guidelines to strengthen the quality, Banks and the FAU is already 90% electronic. Superintendencies issued any confidentiality and security measures for The issue of feedback has been taken into consideration. Arrangements directives. suspicious transaction reports (STRs) in are in train, in collaboration with the AML Unit of the Procuraduría order to achieve improved analysis and There is no Financing of Terrorism General de la República for achievement of this very important objective technical reports. The FAU should have the The UAF on the 26th July, 2013 establishes the Inter institutional Counterlegislation. power to reject STRs that do not meet the terrorism work group in order to strengthen the inter institutional work The Superintendencies of Insurance standards required for their presentation. group against money laundering which exists since 2007 in the Attorney and Securities have not issued any Regulated entities, the FAU and the General Office, in which the institutions that deal with ML/FT can exchange AML/CFT guidelines for their Superintendencies of Banks, Securities and information and can provide feedback to one another supervised sectors. Insurance should take cognizance of There is no feedback between the suspicious transaction reports that are sent competent authorities and the reporting to the judicial authorities, and of the results sectors. of this. In general there should be greater There are no specific provisions to feedback on the subject of AML/CFT. govern the activity of DNFBPs. It is recommended that the FAU and the There are no relevant laws and Superintendencies of Banks, Securities and regulations to cover DNFBPs, since Insurance issue specific instructions on such regulations must be in keeping measures for security, quality and with the operations they perform. confidentiality of suspicious transaction reports and follow up compliance with these measures. Permanent feedback mechanisms should be defined and implemented among the competent authorities and the reporting sectors, taking into account, above all, the level of risks they face and the time limit for recording the information and making it available Institutional and other measures 25. Guidelines & Feedback PC 26. FIU PC The There is a need for legislation to broaden the functions and duties of the FAU and for precision regarding the grounds for removal of the Director of the Unit. There is no supplementary legislation to Act 72-02to widen the powers of the FAU. Statistics on movement of cash connected to money For this reason the process of transition The process is now complete. There are no overlaps, since STRs are of the Department of Financial Intelligence not analysed in the Superintendency of Banks. This is the exclusive of the Superintendency of Banks to the province of the FAU, which is the central information unit. Financial Analysis Unit under the As soon as the FAU has moved to new premises which provide all the committee must be transparent and very conditi8ons necessary for quality standards, the Secretariat j of the rapid, bearing in mind always not only the Egmont Group will be invited to reconsider the re-admission of the processes stipulated by the law but also the country. international undertakings, i.e. those which In the amendment to Act 72-02 and consequent amendments to 54 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions laundering in the country; publication it has at present with the Egmont Group, so of typologies: standards for that at no point of the process will appointment of staff; ability to share compliance with these undertakings be information with counterpart agencies neglected. Special attention should be given and sign memoranda of understanding, to avoiding duplication of functions. This is etc. For these reasons and because at why it is important that the transition the time of the evaluation the Unit had process be an active one. only recently been established, it is not This transition should be more dynamic possible for the mission to assess its and better structured. It is important that degree of operational autonomy. there should be a plan of action, and a The Dominican Republic has as yet timetable specifying dates and concrete no law against financing of terrorism, plans for each aspect of this transition, so so the Financial Analysis Unit is not that the requirements of the law may be met legally empowered to receive as soon as possible, and overlap of functions suspicious operation reports related to avoided which might compromise the financing of terrorism. membership of the country in the Egmont Group, and cause confusion among the The Financial Intelligence supervised entities and national and Department of the SB analyses and international authorities. circulates information revealed in STRs and other relevant information Consider putting into effect as soon as on suspected ML activity in the sectors possible the supervisory bodies for sectors regulated by the SB (banks, remittance which still do not have a regulatory firms and Bureaux de Change). The authority to supervise them and sanction any Act is quite broad as regards the non-compliance with prevention policies. entities regulated, and therefore the The supervision and control bodies must be analyses carried out up to the date of expressly empowered to inspect the the evaluation omit a large segment of procedures and control mechanisms internal institutions legally considered to be to each of the legal persons or the regulated entities. This situation has a professionals subject to its supervision, in negative effect on the work of a order to verify due compliance. This will Financial Intelligence Unit. enable the FAU to carry out its functions in the best possible way. These bodies must Presently, the FID of the also be empowered to collaborate with the Superintendency of Banks receives the FAU in the exercise of its responsibilities STR’s of institutions under its and to provide it with the information at supervision and it sends them to the their disposal to enable the unit to have FAU and the DNCD. The DNCD access to, examine, and analyse the therefore may be receiving the same information coming from these sectors. reports in two occasions. Duplicity in functions and resources should be It would be advisable for the Financial avoided. Analysis Unit to have legislation broadening its functions and duties and detailing No meetings are held for the possible grounds for removal of the Director specific purpose of discussing the Actions Informed by Country Regulation 20-03, consideration will be given to causes for removal of the Director of the FAU, requirements for keeping statistical records of MLrelated cash movements within the country, publication of typologies, staff hiring standards, and the right to share information with counterpart agencies and sign memoranda of understanding. With regard to modifications to Law 72-02, regarding Money Laundering and regulations 19-03 and 20 – 03, the Dominican Republic has a draft Bill ready. This has not been presented to the Legislative Chambers, because of and as a consequence of new 40 + 9 Recommendations being issued in 2012, we are updating the project. In these modifications, we will include reasons to remove the director. With regard to the automation of the receipt of information, a solution is being developed with the Superintendent of Banks for the online reception of reports for financial transactions. Although at the time of the submission of this report, no Report is pending digitalization or filing, under strict security measures. The International Financial Zone. We have prepared a project to modify Law 480 – 08 regulating the Financial International Zone, namely pertaining a single analysis unit being reporting cash transactions and ROS, being that, the Financial Analysis Unit and the National Council against Money Laundering, created by Law 72 – 02. The grounds for removal of the UAF Director are found in the draft amendment of Law 72-02. 55 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating 27. Law enforcemen t authorities LC 28. Powers of competent authorities PC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country quality of suspicious operation reports of the Unit; a duty to keep statistics of or to provide feedback to the regulated movement of cash in the country related to entities. money laundering, and publication of typologies; standards for staff recruitment; It is essential for reports to be powers to share information with published periodically containing counterpart institutions and to sign statistics, typologies and trends. Memoranda of Understanding, etc The FAU at present time still has no automated systems for receiving FIU information and which should guarantee a higher level of security. There is no Terrorist Financing The Dominican Republic has joint task The Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and promulgated under No. legislation and related felonies legally forces to carry out investigations 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as cannot be investigated. adequately. However, it is imperative that a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum Sentence is More than or the country criminalises Financing of Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the category of Serious Terrorism in order to be able to carry out Offences, according to the provisions of the Dominican Penal Code. All investigations and lend international Reporting Entities are responsible for reporting operations deemed assistance in this area suspicious, now legally, since it was previously established, but as a good practice. The Dominican Republic has joint task forces to carry out these investigations adequately. However, it is essential that financing of terrorism be criminalised for investigations and international cooperation in this field to be possible. It is imperative that the country criminalises Financing of Terrorism in order to be able to carry out investigations and lend international assistance in this area. Here, as in other instances, it is reiterated the approval of the AntiTerrorism Law No. 267 of July 8, 2008, which in its Article 25 criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as a serious offence. Constitution of the Dominican Republic, article 44, paragraph 3 part infine the Secrecy of communication by telegraph, telephone, wire, electronic, telematics , or that established by any other medium, except those authorized by judges or competent authority, in accordance with the law is inviolable; Palermo Convention 2000, article 12. Confiscation and seizure For the purposes of this article and that of article 13 of this Convention, each Party State shall empower its courts or other competent authorities to order the presentation or seizure of Bank, financial or commercial records. The State Parties cannot refuse to apply the provisions of this paragraph under the banking secrecy LAW 72-02 56 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country CHAPTER I 29. Supervisor s PC The Superintendency of Banks is the only supervising body that carries out AML/CFT inspections, which it began to do in 2004 The Evaluation Commission did not obtain access to inspection reports. The Insurance and Securities Superintendencies have done no work on this subject. The Superintendency of Banks has a shortage of human resources in its inspection department and needs to supply this entity with feedback of work done by its DIF on AML/CFT issues. There is lack of Supervision of the SB on the Central Bank on AML/CFT issues. There is lack of supervision on financial institutions if they, as part of their internal AML/CFT policies, procedures and controls, are developing matrices and maps of risks Competent authorities: Competent Judicial Authority is understood to be the courts of the judicial order and the public prosecutor's Office; likewise, for the purposes of this law, the competent authority is considered to be the one responsible for supervising and overseeing compliance by the reporting entities of the provisions laid down in this law, the Superintendency of Banks, the Internal Revenue General Directorate and the National Drug Control Directorate As already mentioned, the Superintendency of Banks, together with the International Monetary Fund, is designing a set of supervisory policies based on on-site and off-site risks. The programme will be complete by the beginning of 2009. We are at present in the third of four phases. As regards warning signals, these are contained in the “Guidelines…”, which is structured according to the FATF 40+9 Recommendations The Central Bank is a Regulated Entity, since it carries on open market business. It is subject to supervision by the Superintendency of Banks and is therefore included in the supervision plans. The Superintendency of Banks has the compliance profile of the Central Bank on the basis of off-site supervision The Superintendence of Banks is in the process of revising the Manual on Risk Based Supervision AML / CFT (Extra-Situ and In Situ). Supervision Departments I and II, are efficiently implementing the Manual, however the review is intended to make this a more appropriate document according to the circumstances. The Superintendence of Banks makes monitoring and evaluation of the regulated entities under its supervision, in order to reduce possible risks of AML / CFT. It has distributed in baskets or groups, financial an exchange entities, and assigning them specialists with responsibility for monitoring, also have introduced new types of analysis which allows to manage appropriate variables in terms of geographical areas, currencies, volumes, among others. It is recommended that the manual of verification and inspection procedures of the Superintendency of Banks should be updated in accordance with Act 72-02, because this manual focuses on the provisions of Act 50-88 The Superintendency of Banks should carry out AML supervision in the Central Bank. The Acts governing the insurance and securities markets should include express provisions for AML/CFT supervision. The Superintendency of Banks should check, as part of its work of risk-based supervision, that the financial institutions, as part of their internal AML/CFT policies, procedures and controls, are developing matrices and maps of risks, taking into consideration various factors such as the institution itself, the customer, the product or service, the distribution channel, the jurisdiction, for the purpose not only of complying with the country’s laws, but also for management, monitoring and reduction of risk. In accordance with the Law, AFPs are subject to supervision. Provide all information requested by SIPEN. Information requirements are in addition to the remission obligation of annual financial statements certified by external auditors. The Superintendence may accomplish any direct action related with verification, inspection or vigilance of regulated entities. Regulated entities are enforced to provide all cooperation to the Superintendence, its officers or employees in order to facilitate tasks entrusted by Law. Such supervision task is prevented, whether through on 57 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country site inspections, vigilance or cabinet. (Articles 118, 119, 120 and 121, Decree 969-02). The aforementioned Resolution No. R-CNV-2012-01-MV establishes among the functions of the Unit for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism of the SIV (Article 47), carrying out inspections on the reporting entities and verify their compliance with the Programmes for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism. 30. Resources, integrity and training PC There is no adequate indication (study) to point out the real staff requirements and requirements for equipment and training of the FAU to enable it to fully comply with its duties. As regards technical resources the FAU has no software to enable it to carry out its analyses and protect the information it handles. Up to the time of the visit Excel spreadsheets were used. The FAU needs premises that will enable it to protect the security of the information it handles and that of its employees. The DNCD and its prosecutors should have premises that enable the information they handle to be protected and to provide security for their staff. Increase in the human, economic, and technical resources of the law enforcement agencies must be another priority of the country in combating these scourges. Training should be increased in all law enforcement sectors and extended to cover financing of terrorism. There is need for developing and increasing joint training programmes for prosecutors and judges. A study should be carried out in the regulated sectors to indicate the real staff requirements and requirements for instrumentation and training of the FAU to enable it to fully comply with its duties. The UAF must have technical resources to enable it to receive information in electronic form and carry out its analysis All the law enforcement authorities insisted on the need to strengthen their human, economic and technical resources Training should be increased in all law enforcement sectors and extended to cover financing of terrorism. The personnel of the joint forces should receive joint training and the joint training for judges and prosecutors should be increased. Joint training programmes for prosecutors and judges should be developed. The Superintendency of Banks should strengthen its inspection departments and ensure feedback between the work done by these departments and the work of the Financial Intelligence Department The Ministry of Finance, under which the Superintendency of Insurance falls, and the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee should take urgent measures to enable the Superintendency of Insurance to begin to apply efficient AML/CFT measures in the institutions it supervises, and this The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee is considering restructuring the FAU, to increase its efficiency. This would entail greater resources and support for all its activities. The acquisition of a building to house it, the reassessment of its staff and the insistence that its work be planned and based on clear objectives are all reliable indications of the Committee’s commitment. As mentioned, the new scheme, implemented by the Superintendency of Banks in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, for supervision policies based on on-site and off-site risk presupposes the strengthening of the Inspectors. This programme will be complete early in 2009. It is at present at the third of its four phases. Regarding warning signals, these are contained in the “Guidelines…”, which is structured according to the FATF 40+9 Recommendations. The Superintendence of Banks, maintains a Technical Training Program on AML / CFT and Analysts. The 90% of technicians in the field of AML / CFT have international certification. For 2011, it is projected to certify all staff UAF hired new personnel for the analysis area. General Attorney’s Office of the Republic, Drugs Control National Direction maintain permanent training programs for their technicians. Just as the Ministry of the Attorney General, the National Police, the National Directorate for Drug Control and the other many institutions involved in the anti-money laundering system at the national level, the FAU is in the process of acquiring and installing Statistical Analysis Software (SAS), where it will consolidate all information from the various entities, which will facilitate the flow of information among the different agencies with information that is relevant to the investigation. In 2011, the training and distribution programme for Law 72-02 was executed across the national territory, through a sizeable number of activities, workshops, discussions and panels regarding organised crime, money laundering and financing of 58 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating The Securities and Insurance Superintendencies, and their supervised institutions, devote no resources at all, human, financial or technical, to prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism. Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country should include the allocation of adequate terrorism, as well as the publication of several works related to the and sufficient resources (human, financial aforementioned topics. There are joint training programmes for judges and and technical) specifically related to attorneys general, implemented by the National Council of the Judiciary and AML/CFT for the Superintendencies of the Ministry of the Attorney General. Insurance and Securities. Better and more specialised training in The INPOSDOM (State postal services) has participated in numerous the area of prevention of financing of training sessions delivered by the Comptroller General of the Republic, the terrorism is required for supervisors and CFATF and the Postal Union of the Americas. As part of its programme of supervised entities in the financial markets institutional training, it has delivered seven workshops on the in general, and this should include implementation of the Money Order Services, emphasizing the security identification of Warning Signals and processes for electronic transfers and the regulations for the prevention of patterns of conduct for the preparation of money laundering. STRs. Description of the courses conducted by the UAF during the period January to August 2013 to the DNFBPs including the reporting entities of the Financial Sector (Insurance and Credit Unions) which were left out of the process of training and supervision by their State regulators 04/01/2013 Santo Domingo Credit Union Bohechío lounge of the Santo Domingo Hotel Training workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money - Laundering. 12/01/2013 Santiago Rodriguez Credit Union Conferences Hall of Headquarters of the Mamoncito Credit Union. Training workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money laundering. 17/01/2013 Casinos Santo Domingo Ministry of Finance Continuity of the outreach process of Both institutions (UAFMinistry of Finance) to train the Casinos on Law 72-02 and Prevention of the Money laundering 59 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 19/01/2013 Santiago Credit Union Headquarters of the Santiago Medical Credit Union Training Workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money laundering. 02/02/2013 Santiago Credit Union Headquarters of the Santiago Medical Credit Union 2nd Training Workshop on Law 72-02 and Prevention of Money laundering 07/02/2013 Santo Domingo Credit Union Headquarters of Cooperativa Credit Union Training Workshop on Law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering 10/02/2013 Santiago Credit Union Headquarters of the San Jose Credit Union Training workshop on law 72-02 and Prevention of money laundering of assets. Explanation of want the UAF is and how correctly fill out the STR and SAR report forms. 15/02/2013 Santo Domingo Insurers Conference Room of the Insurance and Reinsurance Chamber of the Dominican Republic INC. (CADOAR) Prevention of Money laundering in the Dominican Republic’s Insurance Sector. 19/02/2013 Importation and sale of new vehicles Distrito 60 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Nacional Main Hall of Vehicle Dealers and Makers Association (ACOFAVE) Training workshop on law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering. Explanation what is the UAF and how to correctly fill out the STR and SAR report forms. 21/02/2013 Casinos Santo Domingo Act Hall of the Ministry of Finance Training workshop on law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering 06/03/2013 Santo Domingo Realtors Conference Hall of the National Drug Council Measures for the prevention of money laundering in real estate Sector and Law 72-02 on money laundering. 15/03/2013 Information of identification of reporting entities. Santo Domingo Mapas GAAR S.R.L Meeting with Mr. Cristian Mejía G. President of Mapas GAAR S.R.L.; where the generation of information on reporting entities was requested of him. 10/04/2013 Casinos Santo Domingo Este Hotel Aurora Measures of prevention of money laundering and Law 72-02 61 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 13/04/2013 Cooperative Las Matas de Farfan Credit Union Club of the Coopcentral of the Matas of Farfan Training workshop on Law 72-02 and prevention of money laundering. 11/05/2013 Dajabón Credit Union Office of the Coopbueno Credit Union Training workshop on law 72-02 and the Role and legal implications of the reporting entities. 22/05/2013 Permits for Construction Santo Domingo Urban Planning of the Town Hall of Distrito Nacional. Visit to the Director of the Department of Urban Planning of City Hall from the D.N., in order to request the data base for the permits granted by the City Council of the DN for the construction of towers and buildings in this district. 05/06/2013 Lawyers Santo Domingo Act Hall of the National Drug Council. Workshop on Law 72-02 on money laundering and "The role of the Lawyer in the face of Drug Prevention” 11/06/2013 Real Estate Santo Domingo Auditorium of the Pedro Mir Charla Library –Conference "Money laundering in Real Estate Sector: Legal implications of the Reporting Entities" 62 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 13/06/2013 Lawyers Santo Domingo Headquarters of Lawyers Bar of the Dominican Republic. Meeting with the President of the Lawyers’ Bar Dr. Jose Fernando Perez Volquez, to encourage participation in the Draft Court Policy for the Treatment of Drug addicts under Judicial Supervision. 13/06/2013 Notary Santo Domingo Headquarters of the Notaries Bar the Dominican Republic. Meeting with the President of the Notaries Association Dr. Rodolfo Perez Mota, to encourage participation in the Draft Court Policy for the Treatment of Drug addicts under Judicial Supervision 19/06/2013 Permits for Construction Santo Domingo Urban Planning of the Town Hall of Distrito Nacional. Training workshop for the Urban Planning Directorate of the Town Hall of the National District and its role in the Fight against Money laundering and compliance with Law 72-02 03/07/2013 Lawyers Distrito Nacional Headquarters of the Lawyers Bar of the Dominican Republic Training workshop on Law 72-02 and the Role of reporting entities (Lawyers) 63 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country 06/07/2013 Las Matas de Farfan Credit Union Club of the Coopcentral of the Matas of Farfan Training workshop for Credit Unions and reinforcement of the compliance officers 27/07/2013 Real estate Santiago de los Caballeros Hotel Aloha Sol Training workshop for the Association of Real Estate Companies (AEI) and reinforcement of compliance officers 01/08/2013 NGOs Distrito Nacional Alliance of NGOs meeting with Lic. Addys Then, Executive Director of the Alliance of NGOs, with the aim of following up on the training given to NGOs and establish communication channels between the UAF and this sector. 08/02/2013 Reporting Entities from different areas. Distrito Nacional Conference Hall of the National Drug Council Training workshop on the framework of the Diplomat in Drug prevention: Law and Public Safety and Law 72-02. 06/08/2013 NGO Distrito Nacional Alliance of NGO Inspection Visit to the Alliance of NGOs and Follow-up of non-financial reporting entities that have been trained by the UAF. 27/08/2013 Jewelry Stores Distrito Nacional Meeting Room of Financial Analysis Unit Training workshop to the Dominican Jewelers Association (ASODOJO) on Law 72-02 and the prevention of money laundering 64 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. 31. National cooperatio n Rating LC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Adequate financing and The statistics supplied to the Mission by infrastructure are required for the FAU and the Superintendency of Banks strengthening these joint forces so demonstrate the need for consolidating the outstandingly developed by the functions of the FAU and the Dominican Republic. Superintendency, since the intrinsic functions of a financial intelligence unit Cooperation between the FAU and require the FAU to have available all the the Financial Intelligence Department necessary information for its investigation of the Superintendency of Banks in an expeditious manner, and this is not should be strengthened, and if possible clearly reflected in the statistics provided. their operations merged, since the information received on their Because of the importance of the work of cooperation suggests the need to the Customs authorities in money consolidate the data. laundering prevention, it would be advisable to strengthen their joint task forces, Customs should be strengthened at especially in all the international airports of the international airports to enable it to the country, the seaports and along the combine its efforts adequately with coasts of the country. Control of the other law enforcement agencies. frontier with Haiti also represents a serious There is no centrally coordinated problem for the authorities. data base. Adequate financing and an effective infrastructure are basic for the strengthening of these joint task forces so outstandingly developed by the Dominican Republic The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee, as the body responsible for promoting AML/CFT measures in the country, should assume a more proactive stance in the empowerment and operativity of the Financial Analysis Unit. Actions Informed by Country International cooperation may be provided by any of the Competent Authorities in its field of responsibility. Regarding STRs and requests for information on the specific role of the FAU, the FAU itself is the responsible agency. This does not mean that if some FIU requests information on bank accounts, the FAU would not deal with the request. Just the opposite: it accepts the request and deals with it, requesting the information from the responsible authority. As for statistics, each agency has control of its own operations and is responsible for their orderly administration. The Directorate General of Customs (DGA) has a Department of Intelligence for AML work. The restructuring of the FAU and its objectives was coordinated by the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee. The General Customs Directorate has boosted its management efforts through its port surveillance system, with the control of passengers and goods, and has installed the SIGA at all ML/FT prevention agencies, which represents a tremendous contribution of national co-operation. It is also working simultaneously and completely with all law enforcement agencies, in detecting and restricting illegal cross-border movement. The General Customs Directorate has a module to control the entry and departure of vehicles at the border, which allows an inventory to be obtained of all incoming and outgoing vehicles from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and vice versa. The FAU has signed a co-operation agreement for information exchange that has allowed it online access to information from: the General Customs Directorate, the General Directorate of Internal Taxes, the Central Electoral Board, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Social Security Treasury, the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, and it maintains a fluid manual exchange of information with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the General Immigration Directorate, the National Directorate for Drug Control, the National Police, among others. The institutions that constitute the anti-money laundering system are in the process of installing Statistical Analysis Software (SAS), where it will consolidate all information from the various entities, which will facilitate the flow of information among the different agencies that provide valuable information. The UAF on the 26th July, 2013 establishes the Inter institutional Counterterrorism work group in order to strengthen the inter institutional work group against money laundering which exists since 2007 in the Attorney 65 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country General Office, in which the institutions that deal with ML/FT can exchange information and can provide feedback to one another. In that same order the UAF sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, 11 Financial Reports reported by reporting entities, where breaches of the law against money laundering are present. We continue strengthening the links of national inter-agency cooperation between the investigative agencies in the field of money laundering and financing of terrorism, by exchanging information and providing feedback. The UAF has sent 4 reports from December 13, 2013 to 20 March 2014 32. Statistics NC The mission could not obtain from the SB statistics on the difference between the number of reports received and those sent to the DNCD for investigation, on institutional cooperation or breakdowns of the reports by sector. Since the FAU is in its teething period, it does not have the necessary tools to carry out its investigations and analyses, and therefore has no figures on STRs received from the SB or forwarded to the DNCD for investigation. The statistics provided by the SB (Table 9) is combining statistics on suspicious operations reports, the cash declarations and requests for investigations. This does not make possible to differentiate between the suspicious activity reports and cash declarations generated by the financial institiutions. The only law enforcement agency from which the Mission received statistics was the DNCD. There is no centralisation of Inter-institutional cooperation figures must be circulated by type of collaboration provided, whether requests for freezing, vetting, investigations, etc. including the specific dates and the time taken to provide and/or receive such cooperation. It is important for each institution to keep its own statistics separately and for there to be a database with the appropriate security measures It would be advisable for the Dominican Republic to establish a system in which all the law enforcement bodies could be connected to a central database on money laundering and financing of terrorism and other financial crimes. This database should specialise in collecting together all information relating to money laundering and financing of terrorism, whether statistics on cases of money laundering, sentences, confiscations, investigations, international cooperation, etc. The statistics maintained by the competent authorities should be more complete and disaggregated. It is recommended that consideration should be given to the appointment of an agency to The maintenance of efficient and up-to-date statistics is a feature of the abovementioned Strategic Plan. The plan is on target. The FAU will have to issue, at least yearly, a report containing all information and statistics on operations carried out, as well as typologies discovered. The intention is for the FAU to be the central information unit, through which all activities of prevention and detection are coordinated. The FAU will be required to issue a sort of instructional document to assist the other Competent Authorities to structure their reports and assess information using a single database. By Decree No. 749-08, dated November 13, 2008, was created the Dominican Observatory of Drugs, which is a technicalscientific research and documentation and inter-institutional framework for the collection, systematization, integration, analysis and dissemination of updated and comparable information on drugs, associated factors and related crimes. Under that decree, the Observatory is responsible for centralizing the produced statistics generated by the institutions of the AML / CFT, such as statistics on the STR received and disseminated; on investigations, prosecutions and convictions relating to laundering and terrorist financing, on property frozen, seized and forfeited, and on mutual legal assistance or other international requests for cooperation. 66 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating 33. Legal persons– beneficial owners PC 34. Legal arrangemen ts – beneficial owners NC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country AML/CFT statistics that permits centralise all statistics on combating money The Drugs Dominican Observatory started activities on January, 2011. regular review of the effectiveness of laundering and the financing of terrorism. It is under structuring stage of the national sub-system of statistics, design the AML/CFT systems at Countries There should be centralized statistics on of the matrix of variables and indicators, implementation of informatics level. international cooperation provided and infrastructure and design of the network for grouping, systematization, Access was not obtained to requested. integration, analysis and spreading of produced information. statistics on annual inspections carried out by the Superintendency of Banks, The FAU maintains inter-institutional co-operation with all law or on agreements with supervisory enforcement bodies and during the period 2011-2012, it received and bodies in other countries. responded to 22 requests for information made by the Ministry of the In the Securities and Insurance Attorney General. In 2011, the SIB received and responded to a total of markets nothing has been done. 593 requests for the exchange of information, of which 517 were requests pertaining to financial products, 61 to the freezing of assets and 15 to the No evidence was obtained that the unfreezing of assets. It is currently in the process of installing the SAS that competent authorities kept statistics in will serve as a central database which can be accessed by all law accordance with the Recommendations enforcement bodies. on extraditions and Mutual Legal Assistance. The Mission was unable to obtain See attached table on "Money Laundering Cases in the Judicial centralised statistics on international cooperation provided and requested by System” all the law enforcement authorities Nor on the approximate time taken to provide cooperation. Statistics should be centralised and coordinated. There was no evidence of the The Dominican authorities should Bearer shares are impossible in the banking and exchange sector, but existence of appropriate introduce transparent and appropriate they are possible in the ordinary market. There are sufficiently measures to ensure that legal measures to ensure that legal persons which transparent measures to ensure that they are not used for money persons empowered to issue can issue bearer shares are not used for laundering. These derive from the mandatory requirement for banks to bearer shares are not used for money laundering. know their customers, and the obligation to justify cash operations in money laundering. excess of US $10,000.00. What requires attention and, as has been said, is being studied by the FAU, is supervision of DNFBPs to ensure compliance in this group of sectors. It was not possible to Since no appropriate mechanisms were The concept of trusts is not a part of Dominican law. A draft bill for a discover whether there is discovered, it is recommended that the Trusts Act is now being studied by the National Congress. machinery to ensure Dominican Republic incorporate into its transparency in the use of laws provisions to clearly define and Law 189-11 of July 16, 2011, governs the concept of trusts in the Dominican trusts, or additional regulate Trusts. This legislation should Republic and in Article 29, paragraph I, it establishes the trustee as the regulation to avoid their include adequate mechanisms to ensure reporting entity for compliance with the regulations on money laundering being used for money transparency and control of Trusts. For detection and prevention set forth in law 72-02. laundering or financing of example, that Trust contracts should be 67 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating terrorism. Recommended Actions entered in a central public register permitting timely access to precise and upto-date information. Actions Informed by Country The Law on Trusts provides that secret trust transactions are prohibited, with such transactions being understood as those for which there is no written and express proof in respect of the objective claimed by them or by the settlers by virtue of the act (article 51 a). Similarly, it is required in the creation of the trusts act, the designation of the beneficial owner(s), as well as the identification of the settler and trustee (article 13, paragraph I). It establishes for the trustee, the obligation to keep the trust secret from third parties, with respect to the operations, acts, contracts, documents and information pertaining to the trusts, with the same scope that the economic and penal legislation in force in the Dominican Republic provides for banking secrecy or professional secrecy, which law 72-02 establishes for money laundering investigations (article 13 and paragraph). On the 2nd of March 2012, The Executive issued Decree No. 95-12 containing the rules of application of law No. 189-11 for the Development of the Mortgage and Trust Market in the Dominican Republic. The same states that both the Entities for Financial Intermediation, and Administrators of Funds/Securities Intermediaries, and Exclusive Legal Persons, are obligated to have a policy manual for the Prevention of Money Laundering, and execute it faithfully. Decree 95-12.declares verbal trusts as null. Financial Intermediary Institutions are obligated to send, to the Superintendency of Banks, for purposes of registration, a copy of the constituent instrument of each trust created, after having complied with the formalities required before the Chamber of Commerce and Production. Similarly, the trust shall provide information with regard to third parties, from the date on which it has been registered in relevant public records. The trustee must make a sworn statement in which he states the legitimate origin of property to be transferred, and that the Act which creates the trust, are not proceeds of illicit means or objects. The constituent instrument must detail the present and future assets of the trust, as well as identify the terms and conditions for the transfer of the same. The extinction of the trust shall be notified in writing to the Commercial Registration offices. In accordance, as set out, in sub paragraph "d" of the article 32 of Decree 95-12, the Trustees and/or beneficiaries should be identified in the constituent instrument and the assets, yields and profits may not be transferred without the beneficiaries having been identified individually in the Trust Act. 68 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country International Cooperation 35. Conventio ns PC 36. Mutual legal assistance (MLA) PC 37. PC Dual The International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations approved on 9th December 1999 and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime of 15th November 2000 (Palermo Convention) have not been ratified and therefore are not part of the domestic legal system of the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has an adequate legal framework to provide international cooperation in money laundering matters, but not with regard to the financing of terrorism since, as has already been stated, this activity is not yet criminalised and there is no anti-terrorist law to lay down procedures to be followed in the area of international cooperation relating to the financing of terrorism. No evidence was obtained that the requests for mutual legal assistance/international cooperation were attended to in time and without undue delay. There is no protection of banking or professional secrecy, as indicated in Act 72-02, and this is applicable only to ML and not to FT. Article 19 of the regulations attached to the Money Laundering Act already grants competent bodies sufficient powers for the provision of mutual assistance, but only in money laundering cases. Mutual legal assistance is given in Precise measures should be taken to speed up the ratification of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism approved by the United Nations General Assembly on 9th December 1999 and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime of 15th November 2000 (Palermo Convention). The imminent passage of the Anti-Terrorist Act implies ratification of the International Convention for Repression of the Financing of Terrorism. The Palermo Convention was ratified, as already noted, on 26 November 2006 by Senate Resolution 355-06. Urgently pass an anti-terrorist act, which As mentioned above, the anti-Terrorism Bill has been passed by the would not only criminalise FT as a serious Chamber of Deputies and is now before the Senate. Once approved there, offence, but would also lay down the it will be sent to the Executive for promulgation. This Bill criminalises procedures to be followed with regard to terrorist financing as a serious offence. Its text presumes no jurisdictional international cooperation, mutual legal conflicts of any kind. assistance, extradition, bank and Article 50 of law 267-08 provides that for the purpose of mutual legal professional secrecy, or, failing this, refer to assistance, banking secrecy shall not be enforceable. the enforcement of procedures laid down in other Acts. Given that special recommendation II deals with the criminalization of It should also include measures for terrorism financing and laundering associated and that the mandate is: Every preventing and settling conflicts of country must criminalize terrorism financing, the financing of terrorist acts jurisdiction, or make reference to other or organizations. Countries must ensure that such offenses are established relevant Acts for the resolution of such as predicate offenses for Money Laundering. The Dominican Republic, on a responsible manner, has included such conflicts criminal offenses as mentioned in Special Recommendation II, in its Law Against Terrorism No. 267-08, 4th of July, 2008. The draft project of the cited Law, was prepared with the advice of international organizations and experts and taking into account the agreements signed on the matter, by the Dominican Republic, where the Dominican Republic is party. The law should also contain ample and The Bill provides for legal assistance and international cooperation: see 69 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. criminality 38. MLA on confiscatio n and freezing Rating PC Factors underlying rating the absence of dual criminality in the least intrusive and non-mandatory measures with regard to money laundering, but there are impediments in so far as FT is not criminalised as a serious offence in Dominican domestic law. The Mission was informed that if the crime is classified as a serious offence there is no type of legal impediment to extradition or a request for mutual legal assistance. As a result, matters relating to FT remain in suspense, since it is not a criminal offence in Dominican domestic law and therefore not subject to any of the procedures set out in Act 72-02 and Act 489 on extradition. No evidence was found of obstacles to carrying out extradition in money laundering cases. However with regard to financing of terrorism, extradition would not be possible since FT has still not been criminalised in Dominican legislation and Article 5b of Act 489 on Extradition in the Dominican Republic embodies the concept of dual criminality. The laws and procedures set out in the Dominican legislation for offering mutual legal assistance in cases of money laundering are appropriate with regard to the tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of property and coordination of these proceedings with foreign authorities. With regard to financing of terrorism, there is no legal framework for the said procedures. Recommended Actions sufficient provisions to enable the competent authorities to undertake the necessary measures to provide proper mutual legal assistance. See R. 36 Actions Informed by Country Articles 74, 75 and 76. It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and promulgated under No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum Sentence is More than or Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the category of Serious Offences, according to the provisions of the Dominican Penal Code. All Reporting Entities are responsible for reporting operations deemed suspicious, now legally, since it was previously established, but as a good practice. Article 47, sub-paragraph “c”, law 267-08, establishes as one of the actions of assistance, the carrying out of inspections, seizure or confiscation of assets, instruments, materials, arms; See attached table on "Money Laundering Cases in the Judicial 70 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country System 39. Extradition 40. Other forms of cooperatio n LC LC No evidence was found of obstacles to carrying out extradition in money laundering cases. However with regard to financing of terrorism, extradition would not be possible since FT has still not been criminalised in Dominican legislation and Article 5b of Act 489 on Extradition in the Dominican Republic embodies the concept of dual criminality. The Dominican Republic should criminalise financing of terrorism as a serious stand-alone offence. See R. 36 It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and promulgated under No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum Sentence is More than or Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the category of Serious Offences, according to the provisions of the Dominican Penal Code. All Reporting Entities are responsible for reporting operations deemed suspicious, now legally, since it was previously established, but as a good practice. Section III of the Terrorism Law provides all aspects related to the extradition of Dominican nationals and nationals of other foreign states resulting from terrorist acts In order for the international conventions to have the force of law they should be ratified as early as possible by the Dominican Republic It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and promulgated under No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum Sentence is More than or Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the category of Serious Offences, according to the provisions of the Dominican Penal Code. All Reporting Entities are responsible for reporting operations deemed suspicious, now legally, since it was previously established, but as a good practice. Nine Special Recommendations SR.I Implement UN instruments NC The 1999 International Convention It is recommended that the passage of the It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and for the Suppression of the Financing of anti-terrorist act be speeded up and that it promulgated under No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the Terrorism has not been ratified by the should set out the procedures to be Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum Congress of the Dominican Republic. followed, and the legal actions concerning Sentence is More than or Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the investigation, freezing, confiscation and category of Serious Offences, according to the provisions of the The Anti-Terrorism Act has not forfeiture of money or other assets intended Dominican Penal Code. All Reporting Entities are responsible for been passed. for FT. It should also contain provisions for reporting operations deemed suspicious, now legally, since it was There are no laws or regulations the unfreezing of such assets, their disposal, previously established, but as a good practice. setting out special procedures for full and the rights of physical or legal persons The UN Security Council Resolutions are observed to the letter. The compliance with the United Nations involuntarily affected; including provisions lists are sent to the banking and exchange institutions for their Security Council Resolutions. contained in the United Nations Security compliance. Any positive response is communicated immediately to the Council Resolutions on the subject of UN-OAS Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. financing of terrorism It is reiterated, what has been the Dominican Republic’s position in 71 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country prior Follow – Up Reports, with regard to: It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and promulgated under No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum Sentence is More than or Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the category of Serious Offences, according to the provisions of the Dominican Penal Code. All Reporting Entities are responsible for reporting operations deemed suspicious, now legally, since it was previously established, but as a good practice. The UN Security Council Resolutions are observed to the letter. The lists are sent to the banking and exchange institutions for their compliance. Any positive response is communicated immediately to the UN-OAS Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. SR.II Criminalize terrorist financing NC At the time of the evaluation the It is recommended that the ratification of It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and UN Convention for the Suppression of the 1999 UN International Convention For promulgated under No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the the Financing of Terrorism had not The Suppression Of The Financing Of Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum been ratified, and there was no antiTerrorism be speeded up as much as Sentence is More than or Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the terrorism law. Financing of terrorism possible. category of Serious Offences, according to the provisions of the is not criminalized. Dominican Penal Code. All Reporting Entities are responsible for In addition, the approval and entry into reporting operations deemed suspicious, now legally, since it was force of the anti-terrorism act should be previously established, but as a good practice. speeded up and it is also recommended that The approval of this Law involves the ratification of the 1999 United in it the financing of terrorism should be criminalised as a serious offence, carrying a Nations International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of penalty of not less than 3 years Terrorism. imprisonment. With regard to the administrative interpretation of the secretariat, we have thought prudent, to undergo all national legal consultations available, before the courts of the Dominican Republic and if necessary, to require international consultation, with the objective of obtaining a legal interpretation of our anti – terrorism law, given that as stated before, the Law is a result of advice received from international subject matter experts, this implying it would be wrong to propose an amendment to a law that as we understand is a product deriving from a national and international requested standard. SR.III Freeze and confiscate terrorist assets NC FT is not criminalised. No evidence was found of any formal mechanism for transmission of updates of the lists to the system under It is recommended that adoption of the anti-terrorist act should be speeded up and that it should contain provisions for: The procedures to be followed for freezing of It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 267 of July 8, 2008 has been passed and criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as a serious offence. There is a natural link between the Anti-Terrorism Law and AntiMoney Laundering Law 72-02. See Articles 35 and 51 of the Anti- 72 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating supervision, or of any obligation on the part of the supervised entities to carry out the verifications, or any legal basis for penalising non-compliance. There is no legal basis for freezing funds or other assets for FT. Recommended Actions funds or other assets intended for FT, as well as provisions for unfreezing of such funds, their use, and the rights of physical or legal persons involuntarily affected; and that failing this the law should refer to the procedures established in Act 72-02; The provisions contained in the UN Security Council resolutions on financing of terrorism. Effective procedures to examine and implement the CFT actions initiated under the freezing mechanisms of other jurisdictions. These procedures should ensure prompt determination, in keeping with applicable national legal principles, of whether there exist reasonable grounds for initiation of a freezing process and for the subsequent freezing, without delay, of money or other assets. Freezing should include: c) money or other assets controlled, directly or indirectly, in total or in aggregate, by designated persons, terrorists, or those who finance terrorism or terrorist organisations, and d) money or other assets derived from or generated by money or other assets controlled, directly or indirectly, in total or in aggregate, by designated persons, terrorists, or those who finance terrorism or terrorist organisations. Effective procedures to evaluate requests for deletion from the list, and for unfreezing of money or other assets of persons or entities deleted from the list, in timely fashion and in keeping with international obligations. Appropriate procedures to enable a person or entity whose money or other assets have been frozen to challenge the measure before the relevant tribunal. It is recommended that the Dominican Actions Informed by Country Terrorism Law 267-08. As already noted, the UN Security Council Resolutions are observed to the letter. The lists are sent to the banking and exchange institutions for their compliance. Any positive response is communicated immediately to the UN-OAS Department of the Ministry of External Relations. The Anti-Terrorism Bill is very clear on procedures and the bodies responsible. See Articles: 36, Special Prosecutor; 51, Freezing of Funds; 52, Bank Secrecy No Defence; 58, National Anti-Terrorism Committee; 59, Extradition; and 68 to 73, Seizure and Confiscation. It is reiterated, what has been the Dominican Republic’s position in prior Follow – Up Reports, with regard to: It is reiterated that the Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and promulgated under No. 267-08, dated July 4, 2008. This criminalises the Financing of Terrorism as a Serious Offence (Article 25). The Minimum Sentence is More than or Equal to Three (3) years, thus it falls under the category of Serious Offences, according to the provisions of the Dominican Penal Code. All Reporting Entities are responsible for reporting operations deemed suspicious, now legally, since it was previously established, but as a good practice. The UN Security Council Resolutions are observed to the letter. The lists are sent to the banking and exchange institutions for their compliance. Any positive response is communicated immediately to the UN-OAS Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 73 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. SR.IV Suspicious transaction reporting Rating NC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Republic have effective means of informing the financial sector of the measures undertaken under the freezing provisions to be embodied in the Anti-Terrorism Act to be approved, and on the basis of which such actions are taken. It is recommended that the Dominican Republic provide the financial institutions and other persons or entities that may be holding captured funds or other assets with a clear guide to their obligations with regard to actions to be taken under the freezing provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act. In the Dominican Republic there is The Senate should quickly approve the The Anti-Terrorism Law has been passed and promulgated as No. 267no provision with legal character and Anti-Terrorism Bill, in order that the 08 of July 4, 2008. It criminalises terrorist financing as a serious offence. force of law to require regulated requirement to submit STRs with financing All reporting institutions are now mandated to report suspicious entities, particularly financial of terrorism profiles can be expressly stated. transactions related with terrorist financing. institutions, to submit suspicious The same administrative penalties for non-compliance are applicable transaction reports related to the for ML and FT cases financing of terrorism. To banks and With regard to the administrative interpretation of the secretariat, we exchange institutions is applied an have thought prudent, to undergo all national legal consultations available, administrative instrument issued by the before the courts of the Dominican Republic and if necessary, to require Superintendency of Banks entitled international consultation, with the objective of obtaining a legal “Guidelines for Prevention of Illicit interpretation of our anti – terrorism law, given that as stated before, the Activities Known as Money Law is a result of advice received from international subject matter Laundering and Financing of experts, this implying it would be wrong to propose an amendment to a Terrorism for Banking and Exchange law that as we understand is a product deriving from a national and Institutions”. Through this, Warning international requested standard. Signals on financing of terrorism are laid down and instructions given for STRs to be presented on this subject also. However, this instrument does not have the force of law In addition, the FAU, as the authority for receiving, analysing and circulating STRs, has not received any related to financing of terrorism. Furthermore, up to now in the insurance and securities market, the subject is non-existent. 74 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. SR.V Internation al cooperation Rating NC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country The impediment to legal It must be repeated that it is essential for As mentioned above, the anti-Terrorism Act has been promulgated as proceedings and mutual legal the financing of terrorism to be criminalised No. 267-08 of July 4, 2008. assistance is: since FT is not penalised, as a serious offence and that the passage of Mutual legal assistance is regulated in Title V, articles 49 to 55; a fundamental principle of criminal the anti-terrorism act should be speeded up regulation of extradition and witness’s provisions are in title VII, arts. 59law is not complied with, i.e. the to define procedures to be followed 64. Title VIII deals with serving of penalties in a foreign country. Joint principle that there can be no crime regarding international cooperation, mutual combat [against FT] is addressed in Title X, arts. 74 to 76. without a law establishing it as such. legal assistance, and extradition, or, failing that, it should refer to the procedures During the period 2008 to 2010, our jurisdiction received and responded to In Dominican law, extradition established in other laws for the purpose. cannot exist in the absence of dual 39 requests for international co-operation, with that figure being recorded at criminality. In view of the fact that approximately 29 in 2011. In 2012 thus far, the FAU has received only 5 financing of terrorism is not requests and it is currently processing the response to same. criminalised extradition is impossible in such cases. As it is known by the Secretariat, this crime was specified in the Republic, in the Law against Terrorism, approved and issued with the No. The Dominican Republic should 267 – 08, on July 4th, 2008. criminalise the financing of terrorism Number of requests for International Cooperation and of as a serious stand-alone offence. The authorities are urged to ratify the United Nations Conventions on Financing of Terrorism in order for them to acquire the force of law. Even though the authorities provide cooperation in cases of financing of terrorism, this cooperation is limited and not covered by law. physical and/or legal persons from which the FIU requested information, period from January 2012 to October 2013 Bermuda (1) Curacao (1) Philippines (2) Guatemala (2) British Virgin Islands (1) Italy (1) Turks and Caicos Islands (1) Curacao (1) We have received and responded to 10 requests for international cooperation for a total of 156 physical and legal persons The UAF, made 18 requests for information from 127 individual and legal entities, broken down in the following manner: to the United States 40.2% of the total number of persons from whom information was requested; 75 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating SR.VI AML requiremen ts for money and value transfer services LC SR.VII Wire transfer rules PC Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Venezuela (26.0%); China, 10.2%; Panama 6.3%, and the rest to other countries. There is no Anti-Terrorist Act in The law against terrorism should be The anti-Terrorism Act has been promulgated as No. 267-08 of July 4, which the question of money transfer approved as early as possible, in order to 2008 it criminalises terrorist financing as a serious offence. The same might be included. provide financial and exchange institutions administrative penalties for non-compliance of the ML preventative with a legal basis for implementing CFT measures will be applicable for the CFT Law. prevention programmes not simply based on By virtue of article 55 of Law 72-02, the National AML Committee “international best practice”. requested that the Monetary Board exercise its powers from Law 183-02 For purposes of dissuasion, (article 9) to establish the amount for reporting of money or value administrative penalties should be applied transfers, in order to comply with FATF Rec. VI. with regard to the shortcomings which must certainly be detected in the on-site inspections. There are no specific measures for Closer scrutiny and follow-up of the the recording of information on money weaknesses of the transfer system is transfer. necessary, with the implementation of effective penalties, to persuade operators of There are informal funds transfer the necessity to strengthen their operations, businesses without any control. not only in relation to money laundering but There is little training on the also with regard to financing of terrorism. subject. Without prejudice to the work of the The stock market and insurance Exchange Supervision Department of the market firms have no specific Superintendency of Banks, by means of a mechanisms. validator designed in Banconet for the There is no CFT legislation. purpose, better training is required in the examination of electronic transfers of all kinds, including those known as “batched transfers”, and the banking and exchange institutions are therefore urged to allocate the necessary economic resources for this. Stock market and insurance market institutions, and their respective Superintendencies, should implement preventive policies applicable to transfer operations, including monitoring, in which they are involved by the nature of their business. Urgent measures are required to strengthen control of transfer services provided by informal operators, particularly It is legally mandatory to keep records of operations for ten (10) years. This is because ten years is the statute of limitations for serious offences. Failure to keep records incurs penalties (see Art. 41 (6) of Act 72-02). Transfers are operations and as such must be recorded and the records kept for ten years. The new procedures for on- and off-site supervision introduced as part of the technical support programme of the IMF to the Superintendency of Banks, include more specific requirements in this area: for example, daily submission of remittances and receipt of remittances and transfers via Bancanet (an electronic network). From these reports the Superintendency can determine who is sending and receiving remittances or transfers, the geographical areas from and to which the largest number of remittances and transfers go, their frequency, etc. The Department of Exchange Supervision has disappeared and its functions have been assumed by the Inspection Department and the Control and Information Department, in which the ML Prevention Division is located. This division is responsible, with the advice of the IMF, for receiving reports arising from the new supervision policies. The Superintendency of Securities is aware of the risk involved in nonimplementation of adequate supervision as regards transfers. Therefore this type of operation is verified, and the institutions are urged to take the risk as seriously as the banking institutions do. Informal sectors are common in all countries of the world. In the Dominican republic the operations of these entities are prohibited by Monetary and Finance Act 183-02.this means that to engage in banking, exchange, remittance and money transfer operations the entities must be possess a license duly issued by the Currency board through the 76 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions in view of the effect on the Dominican Republic of the complex problems of its neighbouring country. Legislation against the financing of terrorism should be enacted. SR.VIII Nonprofit organizatio ns NC Though it is true that Act 122-05 The anti-terrorism act that is about to be offers some control measures, for passed should contain specific provisions to example the obligation to keep control the activities of NGOs in the organised accounts showing all the framework of FT, including procedures for income and expenditure of the prevention, detection, confiscation or company with indications of their freezing of funds diverted to support sources and investment, since FT is terrorist operations or organisations. The not criminalised, action to control competent authorities should also review the and punish FT is limited. adequacy of the recently passed Act 122-05, or other relevant legislation, concerning the There was no evidence of the improper use of NGOs for financing of existence of a supervisory or terrorism disciplinary body for NGOs in regard to FT; There are no measures to prevent NGOs being used by terrorist organisations, either to avoid freezing or confiscation of their assets or to divert funds to support their activities. Actions Informed by Country Superintendency of Banks. The ALM Unit of the Procuraduría General de la República has recently carried out street operations in an effort to shut down and penalise those who violate Act 183-02, since this entails violating ALM Act 72-02 also, by failing to report their operations to the FAU, among other possible offences. As mentioned above, the anti-Terrorism Bill has been passed by the Chamber of Deputies and is now before the Senate. Once approved there, it will be sent to the Executive for promulgation. This Bill criminalises terrorist financing as a serious offence By virtue of article 55 of Law 72-02, the National AML Committee requested that the Monetary Board exercise its powers from Law 183-02 (article 9) to establish an obligation to report on a daily basis all wire transfers of US$1.000 or other Foreign currency. As mentioned above, the anti-Terrorism Bill has been passed by the Chamber of Deputies and is now before the Senate. Once approved there, it will be sent to the Executive for promulgation. This Bill criminalises terrorist financing as a serious offence. For protection through NGOs the Bill offers thej following Articles: 19, Criminal Association for Purposes of Terrorism; 20, Conspiracy; 23, Recruitment and Support; 29 Incitement to Terrorism; and 30, Attempt, in addition to the already mentioned Financing of Terrorism in Art. 25. The 122 Law on Regulation and Development of Non-profit Associations establish a procedure for approval and registration of these entities to operate. This legal framework provides the basis to the proposal for structuring a mechanism for monitoring and supervise the activities of these entities, which is developing The Attorney General of the Republic together with other state agencies with competence in this field. We note that the Instructions "Know Your Customer", Third Edition issued by the Superintendence of Banks, through Circular No. 013/10, dated September 13, 2010, Chapter IV, Paragraph 7, specifies the tasks to be considered for business with "Non-Governmental Organizations and Foundations," which are equivalent to the above in this recommendation, which is why there are policies of control within the sector EIFC’s. The Financial Intelligence Management Tax Unit of the SubDirectorate of DGII, with the aim of complying with article 49 of Law 72-02, has been given the power of the Imposition of Administrative Sanctions on non-financial reporting entities. This unit has already imposed sanctions on reporting entities in the nonfinancial sector. 77 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. SR.IX Cash Couriers Rating Factors underlying rating NOT ASSESSED Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country Article 8, sub-paragraph a) of Law 72-02, provides that: “They shall also be penalised using the penalties set forth in the chapter on penalties (articles 25, 26 and 27 of this law): a) The individual, whether a national or foreigner, who, upon entering or leaving the national territory, via air, maritime or ground means, carrying money or bearer securities or who sends same via public mail or courier, at a value exceeding the sum of ten thousand dollars, in United States currency (US$10,000.00) or another foreign currency, or its equivalent in the national currency, fails to declare or falsely declares its value in the forms prepared for that purpose;” Article 200 of Law 3489 (amended by Law No. 226, dated 21/06/06, G.O.103969), establishes in its paragraph that: “It shall be considered as smuggling and they shall be accused of that offence, the individual, whether a national or foreigner, who, upon entering or leaving the national territory, via air, maritime or ground means, carrying money or bearer securities or who sends same via public mail or courier, at a value exceeding the sum of ten thousand dollars, in United States currency (US$10,000.00) or another foreign currency, or its equivalent in the national currency, fails to declare or falsely declares its value in the forms prepared for that purpose. In the case where the investigations reveal that the money confiscated is the product of money laundering activities, it shall be enforced with all its consequences, Law No. 72-02, of June 7, 2002, on the Laundering of Proceeds of the Illicit Traffic in Drugs, Controlled Substances and other Serious Offences.” The DGA has made foreign currency declaration forms available to the passenger upon the entry into and departure from the Dominican territory. The General Customs Directorate through the SIGA, has a module to control the entry and departure of vehicles at the border, which allows an inventory to be obtained of all incoming and outgoing vehicles from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and vice versa. The DGA has developed a single window system. All documentation and information on both goods and passengers pass through said window, all in one place, thereby maximising the control of cross-border transport. The DGA has developed a passenger and cargo risk management system, with which emphasis can be placed on the more sensitive areas of moneylaundering.. The FAU has access to the DGA’s database that records breaches against 78 Dominican Republic, 12h Follow-Up Report, Round Robin. February 2015 FATF Rec. Rating Factors underlying rating Recommended Actions Actions Informed by Country article 8, sub-paragraph a) of law 72-02, regarding the non-declaration or false declaration of cash or securities upon entering or departing the Dominican territory. The DGA has available in its database, the declarations exceeding US$ 10,000.00 and those falling under the threshold established are considered suspicious. 79