Oman’s CMA Initiates Efforts to Improve Anti-Money Laundering Measures

Richard Marley
March 03, 2022
2 minutes read
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Oman’s Capital Market Authority is sharpening its focus on improving its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures through legislative processes.

The efforts are aimed at protecting the capital market and insurance institutions from illicit criminal activities as a part of an initiative by the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism.

The Director of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing Terrorism Department, Majed Mohammed Al Kiyoumi, stated that the Capital Market Authority is taking a number of steps in this regard pursuant to Royal Decree No. 30/2016 (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing Terrorism Law).

The CMA has directed all entities that are regulated to implement electronic payment methods and circulate reporting forms issued by the National Centre for Financial Information for suspicious transactions. The Department has also issued the key observations and the defects identified during audits and examinations.

Al Kiyoumi also stated that the CMA is aware of the first line of defense being the dissemination of awareness among the compliance officers of the companies. The authority put together eight workshops on a risk-based approach, enhanced due diligence, suspicious transactions, and reporting methods, as well as a workshop on the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing Terrorism Law, targeted financial sanctions, cross border customers, financial payments as well as using social media platforms to spread awareness on such crimes and their economic and social impact.

Moreover, Al Kiyoumi added that the Department carried out an analysis of the data related to 81 companies and formulated a risk matrix to identify which companies are exposed to higher risks. It also devised an audit and examination plan based on the results.

The comprehensive audit covered 13 companies, whereas a thematic audit was carried out for four companies, and meetings were conducted with 8 companies. Compliance orders were sent out to 9 companies after the results of the audit and examination process were given.

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IMF Urges Central Bank of Seychelles to Upgrade Transparency and AML Controls
The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) has been advised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have transparent practices and AML controls.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged CBS, the Central Bank of Seychelles, to incorporate refined practices in different accountability and governance areas. These include confidentiality, supervisory & confidentiality policies along with internal AML/CFT protocols.

According to the statement by IMF, CBS is giving information regarding legal structure, mandate, and a few key elements related to anti-corruption arrangements, risk and human resource management, and accountability on its website.

The review of IMF stated, “To better support the public’s perception of the CBS as a well-governed institution, it should consider highlighting these aspects in its annual report, and/or provide additional information on its website, particularly on human capital management, anti-corruption policies and decision-making arrangements.”

As per IMF’s review, CBS needs to work on several elements, including information’s accessibility to its internal governance arrangements. It could be done by maintaining the Annual Report’s respective sections and website. Moreover, it must overhaul the proceedings by publishing its Code of Conduct and Ethics.

“The legal mechanism for confidentiality issues has been established, but the dissemination and disclosure of the confidentiality framework could be enhanced. The CBS discloses basic information on its AML/CFT supervisory powers and policies, as well as on its related internal control framework, but disclosures on the processes and outcomes of its AML/CFT external policies and internal controls are limited,” said CBS Transparency Code Review of IMF.

IMF review said that the ensurance of transparency practices with new functions and powers by CBS would be effective for its own benefit. The practices adopted by CBS must comply with the powers acquired by the coming legislative act.

IMF’s CBS Transparency Code Review said, “In the last few years, the CBS’s regulatory powers have been substantially expanded with the adoption of AML/CFT Act and Financial Consumer Protection Act. Moreover, the forthcoming Financial Stability Act is expected to provide a transparent legal basis for the CBS’s (and other financial sector regulators) actions on financial stability. These legislative acts will require an expansion of the CBS’s transparency practices so that the related CBS activities continue to be appropriately disclosed to stakeholders.”

The review aims to identify the strength and improvement areas of CBS by allowing it to evaluate its transparency practices. The review presents the map of CBS’s transparency choices in comparison to several practices in three different categories (core, comprehensive, and expanded).

Suggested Read: FCA Advises Firms to Embed Data and Technology to Combat Financial Crimes

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Oman’s CMA Initiates Efforts to Improve Anti-Money Laundering Measures

An Overview of Perpetual KYC

The Need for Perpetual KYC in Banking Sector

Recent Crime Cases in the Banking Industry

Criminal Gang in US Charged with Bank Fraud and Money Laundering

Two Former Employees of Major Bank Charged with Loan Fraud

Global Regulatory Authorities Monitoring the Banking Sector

US

UK

Securing Banking Organizations Through Perpetual KYC

What Shufti Pro Offers?

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