The government has made a number of changes to the Act to Prevent and Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. Justice and Police Minister Kenneth Amoksi claimed that the bill did not entirely adhere to the Financial Action Taskforce’s recommendations (FATF).
Deficits in the law were discovered during multiple meetings between Surinamese specialists and the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce (CFATF) as part of the mutual examination of Suriname. Amoksi provided a summary of the legal responsibilities of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Suriname and how they will be carried out while talking about the law.
The CEO of Juspol also explained the responsibilities of financial and non-financial service providers, including their commitment to report anomalous transactions. Amoksi also described the circumstances under which a transaction is deemed odd.
According to the Minister, this Act’s antecedents are the Compulsory Identification Act (WIP) and the Unusual Transactions Reporting Act (MOT). The two laws were combined into the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention and Control Act, which has been strengthened in light of recent changes to the FATF recommendations.
A national AML/CFT CPF strategy has been prepared based on the NRA’s findings. The major threats to Suriname and its institutional shortcomings should be addressed through this plan. It consists of twelve themes broken down into a number of initiatives that will be carried out over the course of the following two years.
Amoksi claimed that consumer due diligence is required under law (CDD). In order for the service provider to be able to assess, manage, and restrict the risks of money laundering and terrorist funding, it is crucial that they conduct this customer due diligence.
If CDD has not occurred, the service provider is unable to conduct customer due diligence, or the customer due diligence did not provide the desired outcome, the service provider is not permitted to enter into a commercial relationship or complete a transaction.
Amoksi claims that the CDD is not meant to be used by service providers to prosecute their customers. The minister claims that because the service providers are the financial system’s gatekeepers, they have a responsibility to prevent financial system misuse. The service providers themselves are required to establish their own compliance program in which they must determine how they will carry out their legal commitments.
