by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jul 23, 2019 | Blog, News
The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 updates the 2010 legislation that was already in place. Among other things it is essential to arrange staff training with all members of your team to ensure they are up to date with the latest changes.
It is also vital to have an up to date set of written AML Policies Controls & Procedures. This written document must include the following:
- Procedures for recordkeeping, staff training and the maintenance of appropriate policies, procedures and controls about the obligations imposed by the legislation;
- Procedures about the Register of Beneficial Owners (RBO) – with effect from a date to be announced later in 2019, each corporate entity and Industrial and Provident Societies in Ireland are obliged to maintain a register and file certain details with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies at the CRO.
The website of the RBO is https://rbo.gov.ie/. Entities are also obliged to keep the beneficial ownership information up to date with the RBO at all times. The penalty for not doing so is a Class A fine, which is currently set at €5,000.
More details on these requirements are set out in Appendices III and IV of our newly published AML Policies & Procedures Manual, which is available here.
It is fully updated for the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 which came into force on 26 November 2018. It retails at €150+VAT.
As regards fulfilling the training requirement, see our on-demand webinars on AML, accessible at any time.
Other webinar topics include Investment Property Accounting, FRS 105, Common Errors in FRS 102 Accounting and the latest on FRS 105 and company law, visit our online webinar training website. Once viewing is completed, customers will receive a CPD Certificate confirming their learning.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jul 16, 2019 | Blog, News
The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 places some important obligations on accountants to carry out AML procedures, among them the following:
- The obligation to identify and take risk-based and adequate measures to verify, where applicable, the Directors and beneficial owners of client entities;
- The application of the Client Due Diligence (CDD) on a risk-based approach to provide for a proportionate allocation of resources in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism;
- In line with the risk-based approach, the legislation sets out when standard (Normal Due Diligence – NDD), enhanced (Enhanced Due Diligence – EDD) and simplified client due diligence (Simplified Due Diligence – SDD) procedures should be applied to specified client types;
- Designated persons are permitted to rely on third parties to meet the CDD requirements. The obligation for ongoing monitoring of compliance with the full CDD obligation still resides with the designated person;
- Designated persons covered by the Legislation are obliged to promptly report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing simultaneously to the Gardaí and Revenue Commissioners;
It is essential that the correct procedures are followed when applying these rules. More on this is available in our new fully updated AML Policies & Procedures Manual, which is available here.
It is fully updated for the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 which came into force on 26 November 2018. It retails at €150+VAT.
See also our on-demand webinars on AML, accessible at any time.
Other webinar topics include Investment Property Accounting, FRS 105, Common Errors in FRS 102 Accounting and the latest on FRS 105 and company law, visit our online webinar training website. Once viewing is completed, customers will receive a CPD Certificate confirming their learning.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jul 8, 2019 | Blog, News
Certain circumstances can arise from time to time when an accountant (as well as certain other designated persons) is allowed to rely on the privilege reporting exemption contained in Section 46 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018.
The effect of this exemption, when properly applied, is that no suspicious transaction report (STR) is made.
It is essential that the correct protocols are followed when relying on this exemption, and more on this is available in our new fully updated AML Policies & Procedures Manual, which is now available here.
It is fully updated for the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 which came into force on 26 November 2018. It retails at €150+VAT.
See also our on-demand webinars on AML, accessible at any time.
Other webinar topics include Investment Property Accounting, FRS 105, Common Errors in FRS 102 Accounting and the latest on FRS 105 and company law, visit our online webinar training website. Once viewing is completed, customers will receive a CPD Certificate confirming their learning.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jul 3, 2019 | Blog, News
The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 requires, among other things that:
- Each firm to appoint a person responsible for reporting to the authorities, known in the legislation as, the ‘designated person’ or otherwise better known as the ‘Money Laundering Reporting Officer’ (MLRO), a term not mentioned in the law;
- Each firm to have written AML Policies Controls & Procedures (PCP’s) that are updated regularly in line with changes in legislation, professional accountancy guidelines, persuasive guidance from external regulatory agencies like the Department of Justice and Finance and the Central Bank and the firm’s own unique experience in reporting AML incidents;
- Designated persons apply Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedures to their clients in specific circumstances, which not only require the initial verification of client identity but also requires the ongoing monitoring of the business relationship with clients for suspicions of money laundering and terrorist financing;
Our new fully updated AML Policies & Procedures Manual fully deals with these requirements and is now available here.
It is fully updated for the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 which came into force on 26 November 2018. It retails at €150+VAT.
See also our on-demand webinars on AML, accessible at any time.
Other webinar topics include Investment Property Accounting, FRS 105, Common Errors in FRS 102 Accounting and the latest on FRS 105 and company law, visit our online webinar training website. Once viewing is completed, customers will receive a CPD Certificate confirming their learning.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jun 27, 2019 | Blog, News
Some significant changes made in late 2018 to Irish AML legislation may have gone unnoticed. They need urgent attention as each designated entity is required, under Section 30A, to prepare a Business Risk Assessment. More on this in a subsequent blog.
The main changes introduced by the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act, 2018 are:
- Each designated entity is to carry out and document a Business Risk Assessment of the business/firm itself;
- Identify locally based Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and treat them (as well as defined family members) as high risk;
- Enhance the existing requirements for carrying out customer due diligence and require the maintenance of more detailed training records;
- For those businesses that deal in goods sold for cash, the threshold when AML identification of the customer is required, now starts at €10,000 (rather than €15,000 heretofore);
- The creation of the central register of beneficial owners in each EU country. In Ireland, this will be kept at the CRO. This register will be formally launched later in 2019. Watch for updates on the new launch date at https://rbo.gov.ie/.
Accountancy firms will need a set of procedures and checklists to deal with the new law. Our new fully updated AML Policies & Procedures Manual is now available here. It is fully updated for the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 which came into force on 26 November 2018. It retails at €150+VAT.
For on-demand webinars on AML and developments in Investment Property Accounting, FRS 105, Common Errors in FRS 102 Accounting and the latest on FRS 105 and company law, visit our online webinar training website. Once viewing is completed, customers will receive a CPD Certificate confirming their learning.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jun 5, 2019 | Blog, News
In a recently issued audit report, the Irish Red Cross were criticised by their auditors over several matters including:
- how the charity manages restricted funds;
- how over €120,000 was deducted from four humanitarian appeal funds, as an administration charge without proper back-up to justify this;
- not all travel and subsistence claims were backed up by receipts; and
- for the lack of a proper purchase order system for spending money drawn down from overseas project funds.
For more on best practice in the Audit of Charities, see our up to date webinar here.
Also watch out for our new fully updated AML Policies & Procedures Manual coming later in June 2019 – includes the latest requirements of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018 which came into force on 26 November 2018.
For on-demand webinars on AML and developments in Investment Property Accounting, FRS 105, Common Errors in FRS 102 Accounting and the latest on FRS 105 and company law, visit our online webinar training website. Once viewing is completed customers will receive a CPD Certificate confirming their learning.
