Objective, scope, and responsibility
Prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism policy ("the AML Policy") in Studenac d.o.o. ("the Company") represents the basic rules of conduct of the Company and its employees in relations within the Company as well as in relations with external entities in order to prevent and detect money laundering and financing of terrorism.
The Company has adopted zero tolerance standard towards behaviours that violate the regulations on preventing money laundering and financing of terrorism. The Company complies with the applicable legislation on the prevention of money laundering and has established appropriate systems and procedures that prevent its operations from being used for intended money laundering.
The requirements set out in this AML Policy apply to all employees of the Company, and third parties, such as suppliers and business partners, all must comply with the business principles of the Company. Any violations of this AML Policy, as well as violations of applicable regulations will be strictly sanctioned.
Terms
PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING AND FINANCING OF TERRORISM POLICY (“AML Policy”) - procedures and guidelines that deal with issues of prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism and provide standards that the Company and its employees are obliged to respect.
MONEY LAUNDERING - refers to various actions that hide or cover up the source of illegal money and/or other property benefits of an individual or organization in such a way as to present such money and property benefits as coming from a legal source.
COMPLIANCE OFFICER - the person who is responsible in the Company for compliance with regulations for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Mechanisms of money laundering and examples of activities that may represent money laundering
The money laundering process usually takes place in three stages:
- placement - funds derived from illegal activities are placed for the first time in the financial system or are used to purchase high-value goods or assets. For example, when a large amount of cash is separated into less conspicuous amounts that are then directly deposited into bank accounts at various financial institutions, and often such money is mixed with the proceeds of legitimate business. In this phase, the so-called "dirty money" most visible and exposed to detection,
- concealment (stratification) - by carrying out a series of complex transactions, an attempt is made to conceal or change the real origin of funds through various operations that try to distance such funds from their basic source. It may include financial operations abroad through various financial institutions, using offshore companies, fictitious transfers and contracts, alleged borrowing, using safes, buying payment instruments, cash, money smuggling, double accounting, real estate resale,
- integration - in this phase, "dirty money" achieves its goal by being integrated into the financial system, the legal economy, or is reinvested in criminal activities, which makes its detection difficult.
Examples of activities that may constitute money laundering:
- participation in a transaction knowing that the transaction supports the execution of a criminal offense, i.e., knowing that the funds used derive from the proceeds of crimeby deed,
- concealing the source of funds acquired through a criminal offense through subsequent transfers for the purpose of concealing the origin of the funds,
- facilitating the transaction, intentionally or recklessly ignoring the source of the investor's assets or the nature of the transactions or his business.
Employee's obligations
Employees are obliged to:
- familiarize themselves with the AML Policy and act in accordance with it,
- ensure that accurate financial records are kept, and that business and tax reporting is in accordance with all regulations and standards. The records must be kept and stored in accordance with the internal acts,
- carry out a detailed review of business partners' operations before the start of business cooperation, and decide to cooperate with those partners who are convinced that they have legal sources of funds for business activities and a good reputation,
- take care of suspicious behaviour or the existence of disputed situations in dealings with third parties,
- in case of noticing a disputed situation, inform your direct supervisor and Compliance officer.
Examples of disputed situations are:
- unwillingly providing identification documents and other data, or providing invalid identification documents,
- use of a fake address,
- providing inconsistent information,
- a significant change in the volume or amount of business,
- refusal or inability to confirm the legal source of funds,
- payment through the accounts of different individuals and entities, not their own accounts,
- frequently changing payment instructions,
- issuance of false invoices, etc.
Obligations of the Compliance Officer
The Compliance officer is obliged to monitor all changes in applicable laws and all relevant procedures or cases related to money laundering prevention regulations, with the aim of ensuring the effectiveness and updating of the AML Policy, and to make it available to all employees.
The Compliance officer is obliged to act on the report of an action that represents a violation of the provisions of this AML Policy, to carry out proceedings, and to inform his superiors of the results.
Report of an action that represents a violation of the provisions of AML Policy
The application should contain the following information:
- to whom the application refers,
- a description of the action that is considered to be a violation of the Money laundering and financing of terrorism provisions,
- time and place of execution of the action.
The application should be submitted to the Compliance officer.
Procedure in case of determination of a violation of the provisions of AML Policy
Violation of any anti-money laundering regulation or AML Policy may lead to prosecution and/or claims for damages. Violation of any provision of this AML Policy may lead to the imposition of appropriate measures, and finally to the termination of employment contract.
Under no circumstances should an employee of the Company participate or assist in the money laundering process.
Getting to know the AML Policy
The Company will provide training on the AML Policy as part of the induction for all new employees. Other employees will be trained regularly on an annual basis.
This AML Policy will be communicated to all suppliers, contractors, business partners and third parties at the beginning of business relations, and as necessary thereafter.
Policy changes
The Company may amend the AML Policy at any time in order to improve its effectiveness in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism.
