Money laundering prevention audit
We help you, by means of an external expert report, to comply with the law to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism. We do not want the development of new money laundering techniques to interfere with your company.
Why do I need this report?
To avoid falling through ignorance or unintentionally into any of the offences defined in LAW 10/2010 OF 28 APRIL 2010.
We are Sepblac’s external experts, have in-depth knowledge of the law and experience in the development and preparation of reports and their certification.
Minimising risks:
- In the normative interpretation
- And guidance on which countries and jurisdictions have exposure
Sanctions
Failure to comply with the money laundering law can result in penalties of up to 10% of annual turnover*.
* 10 % of the total annual turnover of the person liable, twice the economic substance of the transaction, five times the amount of the profits derived from the infringement, where such profits can be determined, or EUR 10 000 000.
Fined for a single non-compliance
Companies sanctioned in 2021 for non-compliance with the regulation
Companies we have helped to comply with the law
How do I know if I am obliged to undergo a money laundering audit?
If, due to your activity, your company, or you yourself, as a natural person, carry out any of the activities defined in art. 2 of the LPBC, intervening in acquisition or trading operations, you will be considered as a taxable person.
Sectors in particular affected persons who may need a money laundering certificate:
- Tax Advisors
- Developers and real estate agents
- Auditors, external accountants
- Notaries and land registrars
- Lawyers and Solicitors
- Business Centre
- Investment services companies
- Investment companies
- Currency exchange companies
- Payment and credit institutions
- Insurers (life insurance)
- Pension fund management companies Loan or credit intermediaries
- Gambling casinos, lottery marketing companies
- Jewellery shops, art and antique shops
- Postal services, Freight forwarding companies
- Management company of investment firms
- Foundations, Associations and NGOs
- Fintech
Dossier: Preventing Money Laundering
Do you want to know if your company complies with the fundamental requirements to avoid breaching the money laundering law?
We provide you with a document with everything you need to know about the money laundering prevention regulation.
What can we do for you as Sepblac External Experts?
- Audit for the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing
- Mandatory periodic External Expert Report for entities carrying out activities listed in Article 2 of Law 10-2010
- Comprehensive tax advice to individuals and legal entities
- Advice to foundations and associations
- Advice on inheritance and donation procedures
- Tax planning in corporate proceedings, mergers, demergers, takeovers including any corporate changes
- Support and advice on any declaration with the administration
- Assistance and advice in tax procedures (management, collection, sanctioning and inspection), administrative economic claims
- Implementation of corporate policies
- Compliance with compulsory commercial regulations (books, accounts, etc.)
- Advice to the board of directors and attendance at board meetings
- Commercial transactions (capital increase and reduction, transformations, mergers, demergers, spin-offs, etc.)
- Restructuring, Implementation of good corporate governance.
Our methodology
1. Due diligence
- Formal identification
- Actual holder
- Activity and source of funds
- Continuous monitoring
- Conservation
2. Information
Detection of suspicious transactions
- Special examination
- Systematic communication
- Indirect communication
Abstention Confidentiality
- Exemption
- Collaboration with SEPBLAC
3. Internal control
- Internal control
- Measurements and organisation
- Branches and subsidiaries
- Protection and suitability of employees
- Employee training
- External review
Leave us your details to arrange an appointment for a free diagnostic session to analyse your company’s situation.
Frequently asked questions on money laundering law
Implications for regulated entities
Being a regulated entity means having to comply with the obligations set out in Chapters II, III and IV of Law 10/2010, of 28 April, on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, relating to due diligence measures, reporting obligations and internal control, respectively.
These obligations include, for example, reporting to Sepblac those transactions for which there are indications or certainty that they are related to money laundering or terrorist financing, applying due diligence measures in relations with their customers, training their employees in the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, appointing a representative before Sepblac, etc.
Are tax fraud and money laundering the same thing? Main differences.
The offences of money laundering and tax fraud are not the same, there are occasions when they can be interrelated, but they are different. Both are economic crimes that fall under the branch of economic criminal law.
Tax fraud is a phenomenon with serious consequences for society as a whole. It reduces public revenue, which affects the tax burden on compliant taxpayers; it affects the quality of public services and social benefits; it distorts the activity of different economic agents, so that tax-compliant companies face unfair competition from non-compliant ones; in short, tax fraud is the main element of inequity in any tax system.
Money laundering and terrorist financing are universal and globalised phenomena, which take advantage of the benefits offered by the international economy and the gradual elimination of barriers to world trade. This being the case, the international community’s response to this phenomenon must be coordinated and global.
Most common types of money laundering you may face
The development of new laundering techniques, together with the incorporation of new professionals and sectors of activity in criminal schemes, has made it necessary to define new strategies that seek greater efficiency in the dissemination of laundering procedures.
Real estate, Compensation schemes
Use of cash, VAT carousels, Correspondent banking, Transfer management E-money to third countries, Persons with public accountability.
What are means of payment?
For the purposes of Law 10/2010 of 28 April 2010 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, means of payment:
- Paper money and metallic money, domestic or foreign.
- Bearer bank cheques denominated in any currency.
- Any other physical means, including electronic means, designed to be used as a means of bearer payment.
In the event of exit from or entry into national territory, movements of more than 10.10 000 or its equivalent in foreign currency of negotiable bearer instruments, including monetary instruments such as travellers’ cheques, negotiable instruments, including cheques, promissory notes and money orders, whether made out to bearer, endorsed without restriction, made out to the order of a fictitious payee or in another form under which title thereto is transferred on delivery, and incomplete instruments, including cheques, promissory notes and money orders, signed but with the name of the payee omitted, shall also be subject to the declaration requirement laid down in this Article.
What is the crime of money laundering and how can it be prevented?
International regulation of the crime of money laundering is an essential element in combating it, as this type of crime knows no territorial or political boundaries.
Originally, the offence of money laundering was regulated in the context of the fight against drug trafficking, but it gradually acquired autonomy and was conceived as a key element in the fight against international terrorism and other supranational crimes.
To this end, society must have strong, comprehensive, not merely formal, barriers to attempts to introduce crime-related funds into the legal system.
It is a crime of an economic nature, whose main incentive is the obtaining of profit by means of non-legal activities, with the aim of enjoying it, and there are different types of measures to deal with it -legislative, administrative, police, judicial, penal, penitentiary, among others-.
I would like to talk to AL & Associates about my company’s money laundering situation.
Emerging typologies of money laundering
The National Strategy against Organised Crime and Serious Crime 2019-2023 includes, among its priorities, the fight against money laundering, considering that a strategy based on the effective coordination of intelligence, investigation and police intervention activities is an essential element of action against this threat.
The lines of action included in the National Strategy include increased monitoring and control of new emerging types of money laundering, such as e-money, online gambling, illegal betting, big data/cloud, energy sectors and renewable energies, among others. The aim is to provide public security operators with more and better technical tools to enable their immediate detection.
Virtual currencies are neither regulated nor subject to any form of control by public authorities and are therefore exposed to significant operational and financial risks, and there is insufficient clarity about the applicable legal framework. Bitcoin mining may appear to be related to money laundering activities stemming from illicit activities.
How to prevent money laundering and non-compliance with the law?
Using due diligence measures, and a series of obligations to be fulfilled by the obliged parties, which are called «information obligations» (arts. 17 to25 L 10/2010, of 28 April and art. 23 to44 RD 304/2014, of 5 May).
All obliged entities shall examine with particular attention any complex, unusual or unusual transaction or pattern of behaviour, or behaviour without apparent economic or lawful purpose, or which presents indications of simulation or fraud.
And they will be obliged to report to SEPBLAC any event or transaction, even a mere attempt, in respect of which, following the aforementioned examination, there is an indication or certainty that it is related to money laundering or terrorist financing.
Commission for the prevention of money laundering and monetary offences
Non-compliance with obligations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) is subject to a regime of administrative sanctions. For these purposes, Spanish legislation follows FATF Recommendation 35, in turn transposed into EU law by Dir (EU) 2015/849, which requires countries to establish a regime of effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions, whether criminal, civil or administrative, aimed at sanctioning natural or legal persons who fail to comply with AML/CFT obligations.
FATF Recommendation 35 recommends that sanctions should apply not only to financial and non-financial institutions, but also to their directors and senior management.
Is there a horizontal (customer) risk in money laundering in all sectors of the economy?
According to the European Commission reports 26-6-2017 and 24-7-2019 on money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment, all sectors of the economy are vulnerable to the risk of infiltration, integration or ownership by organised crime groups and terrorist groups.
Criminals use the financial system to introduce their illicit profits into financial markets, real estate capital or the legitimate economy in a more structured way than is possible with anonymous or cash-based financial transactions.
A common technique employed by criminals is to create shell companies, trusts or complicated corporate structures to conceal their identity. In these cases, although the funds can be clearly identified, the identity of the beneficial owner is unknown. This widespread problem is not limited to particular jurisdictions or to particular types of entities or legal arrangements. Perpetrators use the most appropriate, simple and secure vehicle based on their expertise, location and market practices in their jurisdiction.