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Azerbaijan completes financial monitoring data collection system to help fight money laundering

Business Materials 7 October 2010 13:56 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 7 / Trend I. Khalilova /

The Financial Monitoring Service of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has completed a system of collecting data from subjects of financial monitoring, Service Director Adishirin Gasimov said. To date, about 20,000 items of data was submitted from the monitoring entities to the service.

"The system of collecting data from subjects of financial monitoring has been completed. International practice has shown that any newly created financial monitoring body can only obtain corresponding results using the database after at least one or two years, so, from this perspective, the financial monitoring service database is only beginning to take shape," Gasimov said.

He said that the main function of any financial monitoring organ is to identify money laundering and terrorist financing by analysing financial data submitted by the subjects of the monitoring.

In addition, on the basis of existing research, the service suspects that a number of cases of terrorist financing has been detected. This information was submitted to the relevant authorities in accordance with the procedure established by the law, Gasimov said.

Gasimov said new legislation covers all subjects of monitoring and surveillance to be involved in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The service monitors credit organizations, insurance and reinsurance organizations, professional participants of securities market, leasing services of credit organizations, money transfers through post offices and other organizations, pawnshops, investment funds, transactions with precious metals and stones, and the purchase of products from them and non-governmental and religious organizations, organizers of lotteries, realtors as well as lawyers, accountants, real estate transactions, client money, securities and property, and client bank and deposit accounts.

The service is organizing a centralized electronic information system to collect data, register legal entities and individuals, and on which the financial monitoring service has information about participation in the legalization of money and property acquired by criminal means and the financing of terrorism.

Not only is the sale of jewelry and other goods made from precious stones and metals subject to monitoring but also under scrutiny are raw materials for these products, providing brokerage services for buying and selling real estate, and the individuals engaged in such activities.

According to a recent presidential decree, the supervision over the implementation of control on providing information on suspicious financial and other transactions and making the perpetrators answerable is entrusted to the Central Bank (for credit institutions and leasing services), the State Securities Committee (professional securities market participants, lottery organizations and investment funds), the Ministry of Finance (insurers and reinsurers, the operators of the market of precious stones and metals), Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies (postal operators, financial services), the Ministry of Justice (non-governmental organizations ) State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations (religious organization) and financial monitoring service under the Central Bank (pawnshops, realtors). The Financial Monitoring Service has direct authority to determine compliance and verification of transactions, subject to the law on combating money laundering.

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