October 26, 2016
The National Office for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering (ONPCSB) is the Financial Information Unit of Romania of the administrative type, with a leading role in the elaboration, coordination and implementation of the national system for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

One of the main functions of this institution is the collection, processing and analysis of financial information. In the event that, from the analysis of the data and information processed at the level of the institution, there are strong indications regarding money laundering, the Office immediately refers the matter to the Prosecutor’s Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and in the event that the financing of acts of terrorism is found, ONPCSB immediately refers the Romanian Information Service to suspicious operations of financing acts of terrorism , in accordance with the provisions of the special law, thus being outlined the function of disseminating information to the competent authorities.

As a result of the intensification of the control activities of the ONPCSB, in the following we remind you what are the main obligations of the taxpayers for preventing and combating money laundering, according to Law no. 656 of December 7, 2002 for the prevention and sanctioning of money laundering, as well as for the establishment of measures to prevent and combat the financing of terrorism: The obligation to designate one or more persons who have responsibilities in the application of this law, whose names will be communicated to the Office, together with the nature and limits of the mentioned responsibilities and to establish appropriate policies and procedures for the application of law 656/2002: ARTICLE 20 (1) The legal persons provided in art. 10 shall designate one or more persons who have responsibilities in the application of this law, whose names will be communicated to the Office (ANNEX, Regulation for the Application of Law 656), together with the nature and limits of the mentioned responsibilities. (2) The persons provided in art. 10 lit. a) – d), g) – j), as well as the management structures of the liberal professions provided in art. 10 lit. e) and f) shall designate one or more persons responsible for the application of this law, whose names shall be communicated to the Office, specifying the nature and limits of the responsibilities entrusted to them, and shall establish appropriate policies and procedures for customer knowledge, reporting, secondary or operational record keeping, internal control, risk assessment and management, compliance and communication management, to prevent and impede suspicious money laundering or terrorist financing operations, ensuring appropriate training of employees. Credit institutions and financial institutions have the obligation to appoint a compliance officer subordinate to the executive management, who coordinates the implementation of internal policies and procedures for the application of this law. (3) The persons designated according to par. (1) and (2) are responsible for fulfilling the tasks established in the application of this law. ARTICLE 10 The following natural or legal persons fall under the scope of this law: a) credit institutions and branches in Romania of foreign credit institutions; b) financial institutions, as well as Romanian branches of foreign financial institutions; c) the administrators of private pension funds, in their own name and for the private pension funds they manage, the marketing agents authorized / approved in the private pension system; d) casinos; e) auditors, natural and legal persons who provide fiscal or accounting advice; f) notaries public, lawyers and other persons exercising liberal legal professions, in case they provide assistance in drawing up or completing operations for their clients regarding the purchase or sale of real estate, shares or social parts or elements of goodwill, administration financial instruments or other assets of customers, the establishment or administration of bank accounts, savings or financial instruments, the organization of the process of underwriting the contributions necessary for the establishment, operation or administration of a company, the establishment, administration or management of companies, investment bodies collectively in securities or other similar structures or the development, according to the law, of other fiduciary activities, as well as in case they represent their clients in any operation of financial character or aiming at real estate; g) service providers for companies and other legal entities or constructions, other than those provided in let. e) or f), as defined in 2lit. k); h) the persons with attributions in the privatization process; i) real estate agents; j) associations and foundations; k) other natural or legal persons who sell goods and / or services, only insofar as they are based on operations with amounts in cash, in lei or in foreign currency, whose minimum limit represents the equivalent in lei of 15,000 euros, regardless of whether the transaction is executed by a single operation or by several operations that seem to have a connection between them.

Obligations to report: ARTICLE 5 (7) The persons provided in art. 10 times the persons designated according to the provisions of art. 20 para. (1) shall report to the Office, within 10 working days, the performance of operations with amounts in cash, in lei or in foreign currency, whose minimum limit represents the equivalent in lei of 15,000 euros, regardless of whether the transaction is carried out through one or more operations which seem to have a connection between them. (8) The provisions of par. (7) shall also apply to external transfers to and from accounts for amounts whose minimum limit represents the RON equivalent of 15,000 euros. 3. Obligations to apply the standard measures and the additional measures of knowledge of the clientele: ARTICLE 13 (1) The persons provided in art. 10 have the obligation to apply the standard measures for knowing the clientele in the following situations: a) when establishing a business relationship; b) when carrying out occasional transactions in the amount of at least 15,000 euros or equivalent, regardless of whether the transaction is carried out through a single operation or several operations that seem to have a connection between them; Obligations to keep copies of documents as proof of identity, or identity references of customers and records of all financial transactions: ARTICLE 19 (1) In each case in which the identity is requested according to the provisions of the present law, the legal person or the natural person provided in art. 10, which has the obligation to identify the client, will keep a copy of the document, as proof of identity, or identity references, for a period of at least 5 years, starting with the date when the relationship with the client ends. (2) The persons provided in art. 10 shall keep the secondary or operative records and records of all financial operations arising from the conduct of a business relationship or an occasional transaction for a period of at least 5 years from the conclusion of the business relationship, respectively from the occasional transaction, in a form appropriate, so that they can be used as evidence in court. Obligation to respond to requests for data and information from the Office: Article 7 (2) The persons provided in art. 10 shall transmit to the Office the requested data and information, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the request. The fines applicable for non-compliance with the legal provisions regarding the prevention and combating of money laundering are: ARTICLE 28 (1) The following acts constitute a contravention, if they have not been committed in such conditions as to constitute crimes: a) non-compliance with the obligations provided in art. 5 para. (1), (7) and (8) and at art. 6; b) non-compliance with the obligations provided in art. 5 para. (3) third sentence, art. 7 para. (2), art. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, art. 18 para. (1), art. 19 – 21 and to art. 24. (2) The contraventions provided in par. (1) lit. a) shall be sanctioned with a fine from 10,000 lei to 30,000 lei, and the contraventions provided in par. (1) lit. b) is sanctioned with a fine from 15,000 lei to 50,000 lei. Because we support the correct and healthy development of your business, we are open to provide you with all the information you need. We are waiting for you to contact us to talk.