Circular No. 203 of 2020 Regarding Measures to Be Taken Against Persons Prohibited from Dealing

PALESTINE MONETARY AUTHORITY

Circular No. (203/2020)
To all exchange companies operating in Palestine Date: Thursday, October 22, 2020

Subject: Measures to be taken against persons prohibited from dealing

In its efforts to mitigate the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and following circulars issued regarding criminal methods and circulars on taking precautionary and preventive measures to refrain from dealing with certain persons suspected of committing criminal methods (fraud, extortion) that fall under the predicate crimes of money laundering as stipulated in Article (3) of Law No. (20) of 2015 concerning the combating of money laundering and terrorist financing, we reiterate the necessity of taking immediate and effective measures and controls to refrain from dealing with these persons and/or executing financial transactions on their behalf, including:

1. Distributing the names of persons prohibited from dealing to company employees.
2. Entering the data of persons prohibited from dealing into the company's internal sanction and freeze lists defined in the accounting system immediately upon receipt, and working to prepare the accounting system to issue automatic alerts that prevent the completion of any financial transactions on behalf of these persons in the future.
3. Not executing domestic, international, and fast remittances before registering the remittances in the accounting system and automatically inquiring about the names of customers and beneficiaries of those remittances against the company's internal sanction lists and the local and international sanction and freeze lists in force in the State of Palestine.
4. Enhancing and strengthening employees' capabilities in applying due diligence procedures to identify the financial relationship and the purpose of financial remittances, and taking the measures stipulated in Circular (2020/157); including raising awareness among employees and customers about the risks of criminal methods, and working to disseminate these methods in the company's premises and through the exchange company's social media channels.
5. Taking the reporting obligations stipulated in the provisions of Law No. 20 of 2015 concerning the combating of money laundering and terrorist financing and the instructions issued pursuant thereto.
6. Informing the Palestine Monetary Authority in writing of operational events related to those crimes, via the approved email address for the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Department: AML-CFT@pma.ps

Supervisory Group
Palestine Monetary Authority

www.pma.ps
Ramallah & Al-Bireh Governorate - Palestine P.O. Box 452 | Gaza - Palestine P.O. Box 4026 Tel: +970 2 2415251 | Fax: +970 2 2415310 | info@pma.ps