Investment institution
Investment institutions are obliged to report unusual transactions to FIU-the Netherlands. This is provided for in the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft BES). You are required to report both completed transactions and transactions that have not yet been completed (intended transactions). This way you contribute to the fight against money laundering, predicate offences and terrorist financing.
Investment fund: capital not held by a legal entity that includes funds or other goods requested or acquired for collective investment in order to have the unit holders share in the return on the investments.
Investment company: a legal entity that requests or has acquired funds or other goods for collective investment in order to have the unit holders share in the return on the investment.
Money transaction:
a. exchanging coins or banknotes
b. paying out coins or banknotes upon presentation of a credit card or against submission of cheques or other securities
c. receiving funds or monetary assets in the context of a money transfer to make them available or have them made available to a third party elsewhere, whether or not in the same form, or paying or making available funds or monetary assets that have been made available elsewhere, whether or not in the same form, all this insofar as the money transfer is an independent service
d. carrying out other related activities to be designated by order in council.
Matters covered by the activities of Investment Institutions under the Wwft-BES are:
- Taking custody of securities, banknotes, coins, currency notes, precious metals and other valuables
- Opening an account on which a balance in money, securities, precious metals or other valuables may be held
- Letting a safe-deposit box
- Making a payment in connection with the cashing of coupons or similar documents of bonds or similar securities
- Crediting or debiting, or causing to be credited or debited, an account on which a balance in money, securities, precious metals or other currencies may be held
- Performing money transactions within the meaning of the BES Financial Markets Act
- Extending loans
- Granting credit in the form of financial leasing
- Granting guarantees and providing sureties
- Dealing in:
1°. money market instruments including cheques, bills of exchange, certificates of deposit
2° . currencies
3° . financial futures and options
4° . swaps and similar financing instruments; or
5°. securities
Participating in securities issues and providing services in that connection
Acting as an investment company within the meaning of the BES Financial Markets Act; or managing an investment institution within the meaning of the BES Financial Markets Act; Providing an investment service including:
1°. receiving and transmitting orders from clients relating to financial instruments;
2° . executing orders on behalf of those clients relating to financial instruments;
3° . managing individual assets
Acting as an electronic money institution.
Exceptions:
The following are not considered a service as referred to above when making a payment in connection with the cashing of coupons or similar documents of bonds or similar securities:
a. Receiving monies or monetary values in connection with a premium payment under an insurance contract, for the purpose of making or causing such monies or monetary values to be made payable elsewhere, whether or not in the same form, to an institution that is permitted to conduct insurance business in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba pursuant to the BES Financial Markets Act;
b. Paying or making funds or monetary values payable in connection with a payment under an insurance contract, after such funds or monetary values have been made available elsewhere, whether or not in the same form, by an institution permitted to conduct insurance business in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba under the BES Financial Markets Act.
When do I report a transaction?
You are required by law to be alert to the transactions and actions of your customers, and to report unusual transactions. As an employee of a trust and company service provider, you know what is common in your industry. You are therefore best positioned to assess whether a transaction is unusual and may be related to money laundering, predicate offences or terrorist financing. That underlines the importance of your professional judgment.
There are transactions that you should always report, regardless of the circumstances. These are transactions that meet the objective indicators. An overview of all the indicators that help you to assess transactions is given below. In addition, the general guidelines of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice and Security and the guidelines of The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) provide pointers on complying with the law. AFM is your supervisor and monitors your compliance with your obligations under the Wwft BES.
What indicators help me to assess transactions?
There are 5 indicators that may apply to investment institution. They will help you determine whether you should file a report with FIU-the Netherlands. You must always report transactions that meet the objective indicator. For the subjective indicator, it is particularly important that you assess whether a transaction is unusual.
The literal description of the indicators is given below. Use the codes in front of the indicators when reporting an unusual transaction. If your report is based on a subjective indicator, it is important to include a detailed description of the transaction and explain why you suspect money laundering or terrorist financing.
Services referred to in sections a to d, g, i and p to w of Schedule A to the Act
XSubjectief01 - "A transaction that the institution has reason to believe may be related to money laundering or terrorist financing."
XObjectief01 – " It is logical that transactions reported to the police or the Public Prosecution Service in connection with money laundering or terrorist financing should also be reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit; after all, there is an assumption that these transactions may be related to money laundering or terrorist financing."
XObjectief18 - "All cash transactions exceeding the amount of USD 5,000 in which the management services provider is directly or indirectly involved."
XObjectief19 - "Transactions involving cheques, traveller's cheques or similar means of payment of USD 50,000 and above."
XObjectief20 - "Non-cash transactions of USD 2,000,000 and above."
Do you believe that a completed or intended transaction meets one or more of these indicators? If so, you are legally obliged to report it to us. Reports based on the subjective indicator may, for example, concern customers who refuse to identify themselves.
What happens to an unusual transaction?
An institution that has reported an unusual transaction receives an automatic message, i.e. an acknowledgement of receipt. This is important in connection with indemnification. We will investigate this unusual transaction. If we declare the transaction suspicious after investigating it, it is made available to investigative, intelligence and security services. They conduct a further investigation based on their own priorities.