LATIN AMERICA
per the provisions set forth in this Chapter shall be understood as an impediment to commencing or maintaining business relations and/or collecting prizes, convertingvaluables and/ or exchangeing chips for money, as may be applicable (article 22). Furthermore, if a Customer refuses to provide any information and/or documentation requested or does not have such information and/or documentation, prize collection, value conversion, and/or exchange chips for money shall be pending until the above is complied with. In the case of brick and mortar venues, KYC will be triggered at the time of collecting prizes, converting valuables, and/or exchanging chips for money, when the transaction is equal to at least 15 Minimum, Vital, and Mobile Wages (MVMW) 5 . In the case of online gaming, KYC will be triggered upon registration. The Resolution allows e-KYC (article 23) and requires that a copy of the customer’s ID is kept as part of the KYC process (article 22). Customers may be rated as (i) low risk; (ii) medium risk; and (iii) high risk 6 (article 25). The rating shall determine the applicability of simplified due diligence measures, medium due diligence measures, or enhanced due diligence measures. Simplified due diligence is described above. Low risk customer files should be updated at least every five years. Medium due diligence implies an additional layer of information to be requested from customers: the execution of an affidavit relating to their business activity and source of income and/or funds. The Obligated Entities must verify that the information furnished by the customer is consistent with that gathered from reliable public or private sources. Medium risk customer files should be updated every three years. Enhanced due diligence implies an additional layer of documentation to be required from customers and/or obtained from reliable private or public sources, which is in addition to simplified and medium due diligence measures. Under enhanced due diligence, the Obligated Entities should evidence the source of income and/or funds of high-risk customers.
Obligated Entities shall also adopt measures to verify possible past records relating to ML/FT activities and penalties applied by the UIF and/or any other competent authority in this field. According to the Resolution, the foreign PEP condition of a customer, as well as their business relations or transactions relating to countries, jurisdictions, or territories included in the lists of high-risk countries, jurisdictions, or territories, subject to a call to action as provided by the FATF, shall be considered higher risk customers. Monitoring, analysis, and reporting The Resolution stipulates that customer profiles shall be defined on the basis of the information relating to the customers’ transactions, amounts, and, in general, any knowledge the Obligated Entities may have about a customer, his or her specific characteristics, labor, business or professional activity, and risk profile, as per the information and documentation gathered from the customer and other reliable private or public sources in conformity with the due diligence processes applicable in each case (article 35). Furthermore, the customer profile shall be defined on the basis of the risk analysis conducted by the Obligated Entities in such a way as to enable the proper detection of Unusual Transactions and Suspicious Transactions conducted by the customer. Furthermore, Obligated Entities must perform a continuous monitoring of the customers transactions, ensuring that any and all transactions are consistent with the Obligated Entities’ knowledge of the customer, the customer profile, and risk level (article 36). To this extent, Obligated Entities shall put in place (i) automatic red flags and transaction control rules to ensure that all transactions conform to the customer’s profile and risk level; and (ii) physical, video, or electronic surveillance mechanisms, where applicable. In order to establish red flags and controls, Obligated Entities shall take in consideration both their own experience in the industry as well as the National ML/FT Risk Assessments, their updates, other documents published or disclosed by competent public authorities identifying industry-related risks and risks
5 The value of the MVMW for the purpose of these thresholds are those determined for the month of June and December of each year. As of De- cember 31, 2023, the threshold is ARS 2,340,000 (approximately US$2,869) 6 As per the Resolution (article 25), the following cases shall entail a higher ML/FT risk: (a) customers from countries, jurisdictions, or territories in connection with which the Argentine Republic has raised concerns about the weaknesses of their ML/FT systems and has implemented specific risk mitigation measures based on a higher risk; (b) with respect to business relations with individuals from countries identified by reliable sources as providers of financing or support for terrorism activities, or which have specific terrorist organizations operating within their country; (c) with respect to business relations with individuals from countries, jurisdictions, or territories subject to penalties, embargoes, or similar measures applied by international agencies, such as, for instance, the United Nations organization; and (d) with respect to the business relations and transactions related with individuals from countries and jurisdictions being intensively monitored in conformity with the rules issued by the FATF
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IMGL MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2024
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