AML/FT/FP prevention policies

National AML/FT/FP Risk Assessments

In June 2022, the first National Money Laundering Risk Assessment (ENR-LA) was carried out and, in September of the same year, the National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment (ENR-FT) was updated, incorporating the National Risk Assessment for the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (ENR-FP).

It was a process of collection and analysis of information by the agencies that make up the Coordinating Committee for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering, the Financing of Terrorism and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, of which the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic is a member, together with various agencies of the Executive Branch. the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The work included instances of exchange with representatives of the private sector, both financial and non-financial.

The National Risk Assessments allow the Argentine State to have an accurate diagnosis of AML/FP/FP risks in order to identify, evaluate, understand and adopt measures accordingly, in line with the provisions of Recommendation No. 1 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The publication of this document contributes to the fulfillment of the first of the general objectives of the National AML/CFT/CFP Strategy, which contemplates the preparation of a shared diagnosis between the public and private sectors on the risks of Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the country.

National AML/CFT/CFP Strategy

The National ALA/CFT/CFP Strategy, signed by the 14 specialized agencies of the different branches of government that make up the Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering, the Financing of Terrorism and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction – of which the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic is a member – defines concrete actions to respond to the main criminal threats and vulnerabilities identified in the Evaluations National Risk Regulations (NRS), approved by the Committee on June 29 and September 7, 2022.

This Strategy was developed as a continuity of the work processes initiated with the NRAs, based on the threats, vulnerabilities and risks detected. Based on this comprehensive analysis, the National Strategy establishes and promotes public policies aimed at effectively mitigating the risks of ML/FT/FP.

Statistical information on the Suspicious Transaction Report Information Regime (RI-ROS) | 2019–2022

The Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) for the prevention of Money Laundering, the Financing of Terrorism and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (ML/FT/FP) provide relevant information to the Financial Information Unit (FIU) for the investigation, detection and fight against these crimes.

Financial institutions regulated by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic are subject to the obligation to inform the UIF of the existence of atypical situations that may constitute suspicious facts or transactions of ML/FT/FP, in accordance with Article 20 of Law No. 25,246 and its amendments. This obligation is channeled through the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Information Regime created by the BCRA, which is published quarterly, which allows information to be collected on the reports made by financial institutions without revealing the identity of the individuals or legal entities involved.

This information regime gathers data on the amount expressed in pesos and other characteristics linked to the profile of the reported client, such as: type of person, economic activity, instrument used, type and geographical area of the operation.

The document presents a set of graphs on:

– number of suspicious transaction reports,

– value in US dollars,

– average annual value of the reports,

– annual rate of suspicious transaction reports per record,

– profile of the people reported according to type of person and economic activity,

– characteristics of the transactions according to financial instrument and type,

– geographical location of operations by region.

For analytical purposes, in addition to the consolidated information for all financial institutions, the data are disaggregated according to:

– Systemic importance and risks of the financial system, using as a parameter the relative importance of the assets of each entity in the total assets of the system.

– Origin of the capital of the entities, distinguishing the categories:

– Local banks with national capital

– Local banks with foreign capital

– Branch banks of foreign financial institutions

– Public banks

– Financial companies with national capital

– Foreign-owned financial companies