General Provisions for the Certification of Independent External Auditors, Compliance Officers and Other Professionals in the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing

DOF: 01/11/2019

GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL AUDITORS, COMPLIANCE OFFICERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS IN THE PREVENTION OF OPERATIONS WITH RESOURCES OF ILLEGAL ORIGIN AND TERRORISM FINANCING

A seal with the National Coat of Arms appears at the margin, which reads: United Mexican States.- GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO.-

FINANCE.- Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.- National Banking and Securities Commission.

The National Banking and Securities Commission, based on the provisions of articles 4, fractions X, X Bis, XXXVI and XXXVIII, and 16, fraction I of the National Banking and Securities Commission Law, and

CONSIDERING

That on October 2, 2014, the "General Provisions for the Certification of Independent External Auditors, Compliance Officers and Other Professionals in the Prevention of Operations with Resources of Illegal Origin and Terrorism Financing" were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, derived from the power added to the National Banking and Securities Commission Law so that the Commission itself could certify compliance officers, as well as independent external auditors and other professionals, in order for them to provide their services to entities and persons subject to the supervision of that decentralized body, to verify compliance with financial laws and provisions emanating from them, in matters of prevention, detection and reporting of acts, omissions or operations that could fall under the provisions of articles 139 Quater or 400 Bis of the Federal Penal Code;

That on March 13, 2015 and July 4, 2017, the aforementioned provisions were modified, with the objective that the Commission could issue the reference certification to those independent external auditors, compliance officers and other professionals who collaborate in the process of elaborating the evaluation to which participants will be subjected, among other modifications;

That in view of the fact that the object of the certification is to verify that persons who carry out the verification of compliance with financial laws and provisions emanating from them, in matters of prevention, detection and reporting of acts, omissions or operations that could fall under the provisions of articles 139 Quater or 400 Bis of the Federal Penal Code, have the minimum knowledge in accordance with the highest international standards in the matter, it is necessary to update the process of obtaining said certification in order to make it more transparent, clear and expeditious;

That in order to provide greater legal certainty and reduce the economic burden on compliance officers, independent external auditors and other professionals, it is necessary to modify the regulation regarding the renewal of the certificate, repealing the obligation regarding training;

That it is necessary to repeal the norms regarding the certification of legal entities, in order to avoid double regulation, since the Guidelines for the Elaboration of the Audit Report to Evaluate Compliance with General Provisions in Matters of Prevention of Operations with Resources of Illegal Origin and Terrorism Financing, as well as the Minimum Standards in Matters of Audit in Prevention of Operations with Resources of Illegal Origin and Terrorism Financing for Legal Entities, already contain the elements regarding the elaboration and content of audit opinions;

That in order to reinforce the transparency of the certification process and prevent conflicts of interest, it is necessary that this Commission has the power to assist, in the different stages of the process, with legal entities of a public or private nature, national or foreign, that provide it with various services such as the elaboration and application of the evaluation, as well as the review and issuance of the results of this, and

That in view of the fact that the modifications to the current General Provisions imply a total restructuring of the regulatory body, it is necessary to issue a new regulation that, in an orderly, coherent and clear manner, precisely establishes the requirements and stages of the certification process, has resolved to issue the following:

GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF

INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL AUDITORS, COMPLIANCE OFFICERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS IN MATTERS OF

PREVENTION OF OPERATIONS WITH RESOURCES OF ILLEGAL ORIGIN AND TERRORISM FINANCING

Chapter I

Preliminary Provisions

Article 1.- These provisions have the objective of establishing the requirements and the applicable process so that the Commission certifies compliance officers, independent external auditors and other professionals, in order for them to provide their services in entities and persons subject to the supervision of the Commission, for the verification of compliance with the obligations contained in financial laws and in the provisions emanating from them, in matters of prevention, detection and reporting of acts, omissions or operations that could fall under the provisions of articles 139 Quater or 400 Bis of the Federal Penal Code.

Likewise, they have the objective of indicating the requirements and procedures to certify independent external auditors and other professionals in order for them to collaborate with the Commission when it hires them, for the verification of compliance with the laws and provisions referred to in the first paragraph of this article.

Article 2.- For the purposes of these provisions, the following shall be understood in singular or plural:

I.

Certificate, the document issued electronically by the Commission, in which the certification referred to in article 4, fractions X and X Bis of the Law is recorded.

II.

Commission, the National Banking and Securities Commission.

III.

Instruction Manual, the document that the Commission makes known through its Internet portal, which details the process for obtaining or renewing the Certificate, as well as the required specifications to carry out its processing.

IV.

Law, the National Banking and Securities Commission Law.

V.

Participant, the natural person who intends to obtain or, in its case, renew the Certificate in terms of what is provided in these provisions.

Article 3.- The interpretation of these provisions and the attention of consultations related to their application, will correspond to the Vice Presidency of Supervision of Preventive Processes of the Commission.

Chapter II

Of the process of obtaining the Certificate

Article 4.- The process of obtaining the Certificate will consist, at least, of the following stages:

I.

Publication of the public call.

II.

Registration and obtaining of folio and password.

III.

Submission of application by the Participant.

IV.

Verification of documentation with the originals.

V.

Evaluation.

VI.

Issuance of the Certificate.

Article 5.- The process of obtaining the Certificate will begin with the publication of the public call in the Official Gazette of the Federation, in which the corresponding participation bases will be included.

The participation bases will indicate, among other aspects, the stages of the certification process, the headquarters, the dates and time of application of the evaluations, as well as the Internet address where Participants can find the Instruction Manual to consult the terms and conditions related to the certification process.

Article 6.- Participants, in order to obtain the corresponding Certificate, must register on the Commission's Internet portal.

Once the Participant registers, it will be considered that they accept the terms and conditions provided in the call and the Instruction Manual indicated in article 5 of these provisions. In that same act, a folio number, a key and a password will be provided to them which will serve to submit the application, using the formats and the Instruction Manual, as well as to follow up on the status of the process of obtaining the Certificate.

All files will be attached electronically in accordance with the specifications provided in the Instruction Manual.

Article 7.- The Commission may interrupt and, in its case, unilaterally terminate the process of obtaining the Certificate when:

I.

The Participant is within the official lists issued by Mexican authorities, international organizations, intergovernmental groups or authorities of other countries, of persons linked or probably linked to operations with resources of illegal origin, terrorism or its financing, or with other illegal activities.

II.

The Participant has provided false, altered information or documentation that does not coincide with the source that gave it origin.

III.

Any other cause arises that the Commission considers as serious, according to the information it has, obtains or that is provided by public, national, foreign or international institutions.

When the Commission interrupts the process of obtaining the Certificate, it will require the Participant to manifest in writing what is convenient for their interest and provide the information or documentation that disproves the facts attributed to them, within a period of three business days counted from the next business day following the one on which the respective notification takes effect. In the event that the Participant does not attend to this requirement, their application will be considered not submitted, and they may present a new one, prior to the corresponding payment of fees.

Once the information or documentation provided by the Participant has been analyzed, and in the event that the facts that gave rise to the interruption are disproven, the Commission will resume the process of obtaining the Certificate; otherwise, it will terminate said process for the Participant.

The Commission will notify the Participant of the meaning of the resolution within a period not exceeding fifteen business days counted from the next business day following the date on which the Participant presents to the Commission the writing referred to in the second paragraph of this article, without prejudice to exercising the rights corresponding to them in their defense, in accordance with the applicable legal regulations.

Section I

Of the requirements and of the documentation

Article 8.- Participants must provide and attach to the application for obtaining the Certificate, the following information and documentation:

I.

Valid official identification issued by a Mexican authority, which may be the voter credential, passport, professional license or driver's license. In the case of natural persons of foreign nationality, it will be necessary to present the passport and the document issued by the National Institute of Migration that accredits their migratory status and their legal stay in national territory.

II.

Updated curriculum vitae.

III.

Letter under oath of not being in the circumstances referred to in article 9, fractions I and II of these provisions, as well as that the information and documentation provided in accordance with this article, is truthful.

IV.

Proof of payment of fees for the concept of certification, which, once its application has been accepted, cannot be used again, except in cases of fortuitous event or force majeure, in which case it must be documented.

V.

The rest indicated in the Instruction Manual.

The Commission may carry out the necessary procedures to verify the truthfulness of the information and documentation referred to in this article.

Article 9.- The following are impediments to obtain the Certificate:

I.

Having been sentenced for any property crime.

II.

Being disqualified from holding a job, position or commission in the public service, or in the Mexican financial system or of any other country.

III.

The current suspension, cancellation or revocation of any registration to act as an independent external auditor, or that some Certificate previously issued by the Commission or another certification issued by a recognized self-regulatory body in terms of the applicable legal provisions has been revoked.

IV.

Being in the official lists issued by Mexican authorities, international organizations, intergovernmental groups or authorities of other countries, of persons linked or probably linked to operations with resources of illegal origin, terrorism or its financing, or with other illegal activities.

Article 10.- The Commission will have a period of fifteen business days, counted from the next business day following that on which it issued the receipt of the application for obtaining the Certificate of the Participant, to notify if the application was accepted or rejected, except for the circumstance provided in article 11 of these provisions.

In the event that the Participant is not notified within the indicated period, it will be understood that their application was accepted. At the request of the Participant and in terms of the Instruction Manual, the Commission will issue a certificate of such circumstance within the two business days following the receipt of said request.

Article 11.- In the event that the Participant has omitted information or documentation, or if errors, corrections, strikethroughs or illegibility result, the Commission will request, on a single occasion, that they remedy the deficiency or omission in question. This, without prejudice to the Commission being able to require, cite or contact the Participant, to clarify doubts regarding the information or documentation attached to the application.

The Participant will have a period of five business days counted from the next business day following that on which the notification of the application referred to in the previous paragraph takes effect, to remedy what is appropriate.

Once the requirement has been remedied, the period referred to in the first paragraph of article 10 of these provisions will restart.

In the event that the Participant does not remedy the deficiencies or omissions in the information or documentation, their application will be considered not submitted, without prejudice to their right to present a new one.

Article 12.- Prior to the Participant sustaining the evaluation, the Commission will carry out the verification of the documents indicated in fractions I, III and V of article 8 of these provisions, which have been sent electronically in accordance with the Instruction Manual, against the originals that the Participant will have the obligation to present on the day of the evaluation.

In the event that the Participant does not present the original documents for verification or the presented ones do not coincide with those sent electronically, the Participant will not have the right to sustain the evaluation and their application will be discarded.

Section II

Of the evaluation procedure

Article 13.- The evaluation procedure will comprise, at least, the following items in matters of prevention of operations with resources of illegal origin and terrorism financing:

I.

The national regulatory framework.

II.

International context.

III.

Audit, supervision and risk-based approach.

Article 14.- The Commission will make known, through its Internet portal, the syllabus and study guide for the evaluation.

Article 15.- The Participant, in order to present the evaluation, must exhibit the valid official identification attached to their application, in terms of fraction I of article 8 of these provisions.

In the event that the Participant does not appear on the day of the evaluation, it will be understood that they withdraw their application for obtaining the Certificate.

Article 16.- The Commission will notify the Participant, in accordance with article 23 of these provisions, the result that falls on their evaluation within the twenty business days following that on which it has been sustained.

The result referred to in the previous paragraph will be "Approved" or "Not Approved" and in no case will it contain grades, scores or percentages.

Section III

Of the issuance of the Certificate

Article 17.- In the event that the result that falls on the evaluation is "Approved", the Commission will issue the Certificate to the Participant within five business days following its notification.

Article 18.- The Certificate will be issued electronically, will contain the date of issuance, as well as expiration, and will be issued under the security and inviolability standards that the Commission itself considers. The list of certified persons will be public, prior to the consent of the Participant and can be consulted on the Commission's Internet portal.

The validity of the Certificate will be five years and will begin to be counted from the date of its issuance.

Chapter III

Of the renewal of the certification

Article 19.- In order to obtain the renewal of the corresponding Certificate, Participants must observe what is provided in the previous chapters.

Article 20.- The issuance of a new Certificate will leave the one issued previously without effect.

Chapter IV

Of the revocation of the certification

Article 21.- The Commission may revoke the Certificate of any person who falls under any of the following circumstances:

I.

It is detected or occurs the updating of any of the circumstances referred to in article 9 of these provisions.

II.

The circumstances established in article 7 of these provisions are updated.

The list of persons whose Certificate is revoked will be public.

Article 22.- In the event that the Commission considers that a person with a valid Certificate has updated any of the circumstances for the revocation of their Certificate, it will notify the interested party of the above so that, within the term of twenty days counted from the next business day following that on which the notification takes effect, they manifest what is convenient for their right, offer evidence and formulate the arguments they consider necessary to disprove the imputations made against them.

The Commission will issue a definitive resolution on the revocation within thirty business days following the expiration of the period referred to in the previous paragraph.

What is provided in this article will be carried out electronically, in accordance with what is indicated in the Instruction Manual.

Chapter V

Final Provisions

Article 23.- The notifications related to the circumstances indicated in these provisions will be carried out by the Commission through the email that the Participant has indicated for such purposes in the corresponding application, in terms of what is provided in the Instruction Manual.

Once the Commission sends its communications electronically, the corresponding notification will be considered made and an electronic record will be generated that will contain the notification number, as well as the date and time of the respective sending, considering said record as a receipt for all legal effects that correspond. This, regardless of whether the Participant downloads or not the electronic files.

The notifications will take effect on the next business day following that on which the communication is made.

Article 24.- The Commission may carry out the process for obtaining the Certificate or its renewal, with the support of legal entities of a public or private nature, national or foreign.

Article 25.- The Commission may carry out individual and direct invitations to the certification processes.

Article 26.- The Commission may issue the Certificate to those persons who have participated in the process of elaborating the evaluation to be applied to Participants, when they so request, as long as they are not in any of the circumstances provided in article 9 and present the information and documentation referred to in article 8 of these provisions.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

FIRST.- These provisions will enter into force the day following their publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation.

SECOND.- The General Provisions for the Certification of Independent External Auditors, Compliance Officers and Other Professionals in the Prevention of Operations with Resources of Illegal Origin and Terrorism Financing, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on October 2, 2014 and their modifications, are abrogated.

THIRD.-

The Certificates issued by the National Banking and Securities Commission in favor of legal entities, before the entry into force of these provisions, will take effect under the same terms, deadlines and conditions established at the moment they were granted and until the end of their validity.

FOURTH.- Participants whose Certificate expires in 2020, may submit the corresponding renewal application in any of the processes referred to in the call that the Commission issues for that year.

In these cases, when the Participant's Certificate expires before the result of their evaluation is notified, said Certificate will be valid until the notification of the result of this.

When the Participant does not submit their Certificate renewal application in the terms of the first paragraph of this article, or if it is rejected, the Certificate will expire on the date provided in the same.

Respectfully

Mexico City, October 25, 2019. - The President of the National Banking and Securities Commission, Adalberto Palma Gómez.- Signature.

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