Reports used to declare suspicious transactions

Order ONPCSB 14/2021 for approving the form and content of the reports provided in art.6 and 7 of Law no.129 / 2019 for preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for amending and supplementing some normative acts and the methodology of transmission was published in the Official Gazette (Part I) no. 271 of March 18, 2021.

Thus, according to the legislation to prevent money laundering, companies and professionals who are obliged to report suspicious transactions and cash transactions from 10,000 euros and up must use new document models.

The documents published by the National Office for Prevention and Combating Money Laundering (ONPCSB) are valid starting May 17, 2021.

More precisely, Order ONPCSB 14/2021, published in March, actually enters into force 60 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, respectively May 17, 2021.

The normative act contains four model reports that must be submitted to the ONPCSB:

  • Report suspicious transactions;
  • The transaction report with a cash of at least 10,000 euros;
  • External transfers report;
  • Report on transfers of funds for the remittance activity.

 

  1. Report of suspicious transactions (for banking and non-banking entities). According to Law 129/2019, companies and professionals considered reporting entities are obliged to send a report to the Office if they know or suspect that the goods in a transaction come from committing crimes or that the person involved is not who they claim to be. Moreover, suspicious transactions must be reported if the information held can be used by the authorities to prevent and combat money laundering or in any situation where there are anomalies regarding customers.

 

http://www.onpcsb.ro/docs/RTS

 

2 The ratio of transactions with cash of at least 10,000 euros (for banking and non-banking entities). Reporting entities are also required to report to the Office transactions in cash of at least 10,000 euros (in lei or in foreign currency), equivalent in lei, including related transactions.

It is important to specify that, in the situation where the transaction is made through a bank, then it has the obligation to report.

 

http://www.onpcsb.ro/rapoarte-online-onpcsb/formate

 

3 External transfers ratio (for banking and non-banking entities). Here we refer to an obligation that credit institutions and financial institutions have, which must send reports on external transfers to and from accounts, in lei or in foreign currency, whose minimum limit is the entire equivalent in lei of 10,000 euros, including related operations.

 

http://www.onpcsb.ro/rapoarte-online-onpcsb/formate

 

  • The report on the transfers of funds for the remittance activity. This model document formalized by the authorities refers to the fact that, in order to remit money, the reporting entities must send to ONPCSB reports on the transfers of funds of at least 2,000 euros, equivalent in lei.

 

http://www.onpcsb.ro/rapoarte-online-onpcsb/formate

 

According to the law, the report on suspicious transactions must be sent to the authorities immediately, ie before making any transaction for the client in connection with which there are suspicions.

The other reports must be sent to the ONPCSB within three working days from the moment of the transaction.

We specify the fact that Law 129/2019 stipulates that the models of the reports mentioned above should have appeared in the Official Gazette since the autumn of 2019. But ONPCSB came with them only in March 2021, the documents being used from now on.

The reports were made based on the models established by the old legislation of preventing and combating money laundering. We remind you that in July 2019, Law 129/2019 replaced the old legal framework of preventing and combating money laundering and came with some new obligations for companies, including declaring the real beneficiaries.

 

  1. The following reporting entities are covered by Law 129/2019: a) the credit institutions of Romanian legal entities and the branches of the credit institutions of foreign legal entities;
  2. Romanian legal entities financial institutions and branches of foreign legal entities financial institutions;
  3. the administrators of voluntary and / or occupational pension funds, in their own name and for the voluntary pension funds and / or the occupational pension funds they administer, except for the occupational occupational pension funds;
  4. gambling service providers;
  5. auditors, chartered accountants and certified accountants, certified appraisers, tax consultants, persons providing financial, business or accounting advice, other persons who undertake to provide, directly or through other persons with whom that person is affiliated, material assistance , assistance or counseling regarding the fiscal, financial aspects, as main economic or professional activity;
  6. public notaries, lawyers, bailiffs and other persons exercising liberal legal professions, if they provide assistance for the preparation or completion of operations for their clients on the purchase or sale of real estate, shares or shares or elements of the fund trade, administration of financial instruments, securities or other assets of clients, operations or transactions involving a sum of money or a transfer of ownership, establishment or administration of bank accounts, savings or financial instruments, organization of the process of subscription of contributions necessary for the establishment, operation or administration of a company; the establishment, administration or management of such companies, collective investment undertakings in securities or other similar structures, as well as if they participate on their behalf or for their clients in any financial or real estate operation; the creation, operation or administration of trusts, companies, foundations or similar structures;
  7. service providers for companies or trusts, other than those provided in let.e) and f);

g1) providers of exchange services between virtual currencies and fiat currencies;

g2) digital wallet providers.

 

  1. h) real estate agents and developers, including when acting as intermediaries in the rental of real estate, but only in respect of transactions for which the value of the monthly rent represents the equivalent in lei of 10,000 euros or more;
  2. i) other persons who, as professionals, sell goods, only insofar as they carry out cash transactions whose minimum limit represents the equivalent in lei of 10,000 euros, regardless of whether the transaction is executed by a single operation or by several operations which have a connection between them.
  3. j) persons who sell works of art or who act as intermediaries in the trade of works of art, including when this activity is carried out by art galleries and auction houses, if the value of the transaction or a series of transactions related between they represent the equivalent in lei of 10,000 euros or more;
  4. k) persons who deposit or sell works of art or who act as intermediaries in the trade in works of art, when this activity is carried out in free zones, if the value of the transaction or a series of related transactions represents the equivalent in lei of 10,000 euros or more.

 

Legal basis:

Law 129/2019 for preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for amending and supplementing some normative acts;

Order ONPCSB 14/2021 for approving the form and content of the reports provided in art. 6 and 7 of Law no. 129/2019 for the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for the modification and completion of some normative acts and of their transmission methodology.