Accountants must knock on suspicious customers

[Демитрий]

Accountants must knock on suspicious customers.

Rosfinmonitoring published on its website Recommendations on the fulfillment by persons carrying out entrepreneurial activities in the field of accounting services of the requirements of the legislation on counteracting the legalization (laundering) of criminally obtained incomes and the financing of terrorism. This is not an order, but it contains references to regulatory documents obliging accounting firms and individual entrepreneurs to take part in the mentioned opposition.

The recommendations are addressed to persons who prepare or carry out, on behalf of or on behalf of their client, transactions with real estate, management of cash, securities or other property of the client, management of bank accounts or securities accounts, raising funds to create organizations, support their activities or managing them, creating organizations, ensuring their activities or managing them, as well as buying and selling organizations

What are accounting firms required to do? The recommendations indicate the following:

• develop internal control rules (ICC);
• appoint a special officer responsible for the implementation of the internal control rules;
• identify the client (the person who is being served);
• document the information received as a result of the implementation of the ICR and to keep it confidential;
• notify Rosfinmonitoring of suspicious transactions no later than 3 business days following the day of their detection in accordance with the above procedure;
• keep the received documents and information for at least five years from the date of termination of relations with the client.

Special officials are trained in combating the legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds and the financing of terrorism. At the same time, they cannot have an unclear or outstanding criminal record for economic crimes or crimes against state power.

Persons providing accounting services provide information about suspicious transactions in the form of formalized electronic messages (FES).

Preparation of the FES is carried out using interactive forms posted in the Personal Account on the official website of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service. But it can also be implemented with the help of an automated set of software tools for inputting, processing and transmitting information provided by Rosfinmonitoring (AWP), as well as with the help of other software that meets the established requirements.

Accounting firms and entrepreneurs providing accounting services are required to connect to the Personal Account. There they will be able to study schemes and typologies of legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds and the financing of terrorism, posted in open sources of information. And also participate in voluntary cooperation with Rosfinmonitoring by filling out questionnaires and questionnaires.