Decision on Establishing the Procedure for Detection and Withdrawal of Counterfeit Money

NATIONAL BANK OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Pursuant to Article 47 paragraph 1, item 6, and in accordance with Article 29 paragraph 1 of the Law on the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia ("Official Gazette" no. 158/2010), the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia Council adopted the following DECISION on establishing the procedure for detection and withdrawal of counterfeit money I General Provisions

1. This decision establishes the procedure for the detection and withdrawal of counterfeit
   money denominated in denars or in foreign currency, the manner of reporting in the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia (hereinafter: National Bank), the expertise, recording and cooperation with the institutions in the country and abroad.
2. Certain terms used in this decision shall have the following meanings:

• counterfeit money: counterfeit banknotes and coins are money that are not issued by an
  authorized institution, which are falsely made or altered, which have the appearance of genuine banknotes and coins denominated in denars or in foreign currency in order to make fraud and to present them as original money.
• expertise: preparation of an expert opinion, developed on the basis of professional
  methods, knowledge and experiences, which certifies the originality of suspicious banknotes and coins denominated in denars or in foreign currency and their individual characteristics.
• submitters of suspicious samples of money: the institutions in the country that the direct or
  indirect way come into contact with cash - financial institutions, the Ministry of Interior (MOI), the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Police Department of the Ministry of Finance.
• organizational unit for expertise of counterfeits: separate organizational unit established
  within the National Bank, whose main goal is integral concentration of activities to prevent counterfeiting and detect counterfeits, preparation of an expertise of banknotes and coins denominated in denars or in foreign currency, keeping records, as well as cooperation with relevant institutions in the country and abroad on exchange of information.
  II. Procedures for detecting counterfeit money into financial institutions and
  other

3. Besides the numerical accuracy of the received money, the financial institution in contact
   with cash in circulation, is required to identify also the existence of counterfeit money.
4. When receiving cash, the financial institution is obliged to keep the suspicious samples
   and to issue a certificate to the person from whom the money is seized stating that there is

2 suspicion of fraud. The certificate should indicate the personal information of the person from whom the suspicious sample is seized, and a brief statement about the origin of the seized suspicious sample.
5. The processing of cash by the financial institution may further identify a suspicious sample
of money.
6. Suspicious money sample can be submitted to financial institution by a natural person or
legal entity for the purpose of determining its authenticity. In such a case, the financial institution shall act as prescribed in item 4 of this Decision.
7. In case the financial institution fails to detect the suspicious money sample at the receipt
and procession of cash, it can be determined during the processing of cash submitted to the National Bank by the financial institution.
8. Minutes shall be prepared in all cases of detected suspicious banknotes and coins, in
which the following elements shall be stated:

• title of the institution doubting in the authenticity of the banknotes and coins;
• date of detection of the suspicious banknotes and coins;
• name and surname of the persons who detected the suspicious banknotes and coins;
• number of pieces and denomination structure;
• short description of the event;
• signature of the institution's authorized persons.
  The detected suspicious banknotes and coins, together with a verified copy of the Minutes shall be sent for expert analysis to the National Bank, to the organizational unit for counterfeits expertise.

9. The Ministry of Interior (MOI), the Customs Administration of RM at the Ministry of
   Finance and the Administration of Finance Police at the Ministry of Finance shall act with the detected suspicious money samples in conformity with their prescribed procedures, submitting also a written notification, a request to the National Bank for performing expert analysis.
   III. Procedure in the National Bank
10. The suspicious banknotes or coins brought by the submitters of the suspicious money
    samples shall be subjected to an expertise in the National Bank.
    The expertise of the suspicious banknotes and coins shall be aimed at:

• determining whether it is a counterfeit in the particular case;
• determining individual features of the counterfeit;
• providing a description of the type of the counterfeit, the nominal value, the date of
  issue, as well as the protection elements of the paper the counterfeited banknote is made of, i.e. the elements of the alloy of the counterfeited coins ;
• description of the new counterfeit, which will be submitted to all financial institutions, and
  other description that will be announced to the public;
• determining the type of the new counterfeit and its special mark;
• specifying, if it is an already known counterfeit, to what type of counterfeits the
  respective sample belongs to.

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11. If determined that the presented suspicious samples are original, they shall be returned
to the submitters of suspicious money samples, together with the report of the performed expertise.
12. The National Bank shall deprive the suspicious banknotes and coins submitted to
expertise and that shall be determined as counterfeits.
IV. Keeping the required record in the National Bank
13. The National Bank keeps record for the money counterfeits which pertains to the
following:

• submitter of the suspicious money sample;
• date of acceptance;
• type of counterfeit - banknotes or coins;
• nominal value;
• issue date;
• serial number;
• type of paper the counterfeit is produced of;
• type of counterfeit - method of production of counterfeit;
• number of pieces and denomination structure;
• date of reporting to the submitter of the suspicious money sample and
• date of reporting to the MOI.
  The counterfeits are kept in the Banknotes Department of the National Bank 10 (ten) years, and after the deadline they are destroyed according to an act adopted by the Governor or the person authorized by the Governor.
  V. Relations of the National Bank with the Ministry of Interior

14. Sample of the minutes for acceptance and detection of counterfeits, as well as
    the report on the expertise performed by the National Bank, shall be submitted to both, the submitter of the suspicious money samples and the Ministry of Interior.
15. The National Bank, upon a request by the court, for the purposes of the investigation
    and realization of a court procedure, makes all the received counterfeited samples by the respective counterfeiter available, in order to be enclosed to the case. In extraordinary situations, for the needs of the investigation they are submitted to MOI as well.
16. After the completion of the court procedure for the misdemeanor money
    counterfeiting, all submitted counterfeited samples are returned to the Banknotes Department at the National Bank, directly from the court or through MOI.
    VI. Notification on counterfeits
17. If a new type of counterfeit occurs, the National Bank in coordination with MOI decides
    on whether, to whom and how shall the required notifications on such type of counterfeit be given.

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18. On the basis of paragraph 1 of this item, the National Bank gives adequate notifications
to the financial institutions, and others to the public.
19. The adequate services in the financial institutions shall constantly have in mind the
received notifications by the National Bank for the detected counterfeits, as a warning in their operating with money.
20. The counterfeits denominated in denars or in foreign currency can be sent to
international institutions, upon their request, and in accordance with the assumed international obligations.
21. This Decision shall become effective on the day of its publishing in the "Official Gazette
of the Republic of Macedonia".
D. No. 02-15/III-_/2011
March 31, 2011
Skopje
Governor and Chairperson of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia Council Petar Goshev, M.Sc.