SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION
Fortis Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Company”) is committed to a comprehensive anti-money laundering (“AML”) program. It is the policy of the Company to comply fully and completely with all applicable governmental requirements that have been designed to prohibit and prevent both actual and potential money laundering, as well as other activities that facilitate money laundering and the funding of terrorists and/or other criminal activity.
The company intends that these AML Policy and Program Procedures (“the Policy”) will be reviewed at least annually and updated from time to time as necessary to keep up with changes in applicable law and changes in the company operations. The Policy is intended to be supplemented by training of all the company non-construction employees and any volunteers who perform administrative duties (“designated volunteers”). The Policy is solely for the use of, and is binding upon, the company employees and designated volunteers. Willful or grossly negligent failure of an employee or designated volunteer to follow this AML Policy and Program Procedures Policy and such additional procedures as shall be issued to implement this Policy may be grounds for discipline, up to and including termination, and may in certain circumstances expose the employee or designated volunteer to criminal prosecution, fine, and/or imprisonment.
SECTION 2
MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORIST FINANCING
A. WHAT IS MONEY LAUNDERING?
“Money laundering” is generally defined as engaging in acts designed to conceal or disguise the nature, control, or true origin of criminally derived proceeds so that those proceeds appear to have been derived from legitimate activities or origins or otherwise constitute legitimate assets. Generally, money laundering occurs in three stages:
B. Stage 1 – Placement:
1. Cash generated from criminal activities is “placed” in the financial system or the retail economy, often by converting the cash into monetary instruments, such as money orders or securities or investing it in real estate, commodities, or high-end consumer products (e.g., automobiles, boats, jewelry). Illegally obtained money is most vulnerable during the “placement” stage, because, over the years, regulators and law enforcement authorities have imposed a variety of reporting requirements and have required financial institutions, including residential lenders and originators (“RMLOs”), to train their employees to look for suspicious transactions. To disguise the placement of unlawful funds, money launderers will often use a technique called “Structuring.” Structuring involves the breaking up of a transaction that would normally have to be recorded or reported into smaller transactions at dollar amounts below the recording/reporting thresholds.
2. Stage 2 - Layering:
Funds are transferred or moved into other financial institutions to further separate the money from its criminal origin.
3. Stage 3 - Integration:
Funds are reintroduced into the financial system and then integrated into the economy by purchasing legitimate assets or funding legitimate businesses or other criminal activities.
C. MEANING OF TERRORIST FINANCING
Unlike money laundering, terrorist financing is typically motivated by ideological, rather than profit-seeking concerns, and often may not involve the proceeds of criminal conduct. Money laundering is frequently an important component of terrorist financing, and the methods used are often similar or identical to those used by money launderers. Large sums are not necessarily involved, and the original funds may well be legitimate rather than illegally obtained. The goal of terrorist financing is to establish flexible and mobile sources of funding for the purchase of products and services that will be used to further or commit terrorist acts.
SECTION 3
AML COMPLIANCE OFFICER DESIGNATION AND DUTIES
A. DESIGNATION OF COMPLIANCE OFFICER
The company hereby designates an AML Compliance Officer (the “Compliance Officer”) for the Company. The Compliance Officer, or any of his or her authorized designees (hereinafter, a “Designee”), is responsible for ensuring (1) the company ongoing compliance with all AML laws, including monitoring compliance by the company employees and designated volunteers with their obligations under the company AML program; (2) that the company AML Program is updated as necessary.
B. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMPLIANCE OFFICER
The duties and responsibilities of the Compliance Officer include, but are not limited to, the following:- Maintain a thorough knowledge of all laws pertaining to anti-money laundering with respect to the company operations, including detecting and addressing Red Flags.
- Schedule and coordinate annual employee training seminars regarding anti-money laundering and related requirements.
- Supervise the development of training procedures to ensure compliance with the applicable state and federal statutes regarding anti-money laundering and related requirements.
SECTION 4
RISK ASSESSMENTA. GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The development and implementation of an effective AML Program must be based on a risk assessment. For this reason, the company is required to conduct a risk assessment of its business, Clients, products, and the geographic location in which it operates, in accordance with a standard risk assessment methodology.
The Compliance Officer must determine the AML vulnerabilities of the company products/services, the AML risks associated with the geographies in which it operates, and the AML risks of the Clients with whom it deals. The Compliance Officer must also assess the effectiveness of the company controls to manage and mitigate the AML risks. The selection of risk categories and the weights given to risk categories in money laundering risk assessment vary depending on the circumstances.
In order to provide a framework for identifying AML risks, the Compliance Officer shall conduct a money laundering risk assessment by first determining inherent money laundering risk, then reviewing mitigating controls, and in consideration of the inherent risk and mitigating controls, determine the overall residual money laundering risk. The results of the risk assessment and any recommendations for control improvements must be provided to senior management for review and approval. Results of the money laundering risk assessment, the methodology, the analysis, and any supporting documentation of each will be maintained for at least three years.
The company money laundering risk assessments must be updated on a regular basis, generally at least every 18 months.
B. CLIENT IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION
The company will collect certain minimum Client identification information from each Client and compare Client identification information with government-provided lists of suspected terrorists.
C. REQUIRED CLIENT INFORMATION – MINIMUM ID REQUIREMENTS/KYC
Prior to engaging in any activity which potentially may involve money laundering, the company will collect the following information for all Clients:- A high-resolution copy of the government-issued identification document, which should contain: full name, date of birth, photo and citizenship, and also, where applicable: confirmation of the document validity (issue and/or expiry date), holder's signature. Such identification document might be a passport, national ID, driver's license or similar document. The indicated documents must be valid at least 6 months from the filing date. The company reserves the right to request certified copies of the indicated documents and such certification must be valid at least 6 months from the filing date. The company reserves the right to request a second form of the identification document.
- A high-resolution copy of a receipt of utility services payment(gas, water, electricity or other) or bank statement, containing full client's name and the actual place of residence. These documents should not be older than 3 months from the date of filing.
D. VERIFICATION OF INFORMATION
To the extent reasonable and practicable, at the time a Client relationship is established, the company will ensure, based on our assessment of the AML-related risks posed by the Client’s location, nationality, and overall profile, that we have sufficient information to form a reasonable belief that we know the true identity of our Clients. In verifying Client identity, we will analyze any logical inconsistencies in the information we obtain such as through documentary evidence.
The Client’s identity will be verified using the information mentioned above. We are not required to take steps to determine whether any document that the Client has provided to us for identity verification has been validly issued, and we may rely on a government-issued identification as verification of a Client’s identity. However, if we detect that the document evidences some form of fraud or other irregularities, we will consider that factor in determining whether we can form a reasonable belief that we know the Client's true identity.
If a Client’s identity cannot successfully be validated based on the information in the company possession, the company may, in its sole discretion, contact the Client and request that the Client provide via video call (i) a true and correct copy of the Client’s unexpired, government-issued identification card with photograph, and (ii) a copy of any current utility bill where the name and mailing address on the bill match the information provided by the Client.
If we find information that indicates possible suspicious activity such as money laundering, terrorist financing activity, or other criminal activity we will, after consultation with the Compliance Officer or Designee, report it to concerned authorities.
E. LACK OF VERIFICATION
When we cannot form a reasonable belief that we know the true identity of a Client with respect to transactions requiring Client identification, we will do the following: (i) not perform the transaction; and (ii) if deemed necessary or appropriate by the Compliance Officer or Designee, report it to concerned authority.
F. RECORD KEEPING
We will document our verification, including all identifying information provided by a Client, the methods used and results of verification, and the resolution of any discrepancy in the identifying information. We will maintain records confidentially containing a description of any document that we relied on to verify a Client's identity, noting the type of document, any identification number contained in the document, the place of issuance, the date of issuance, if any, and expiration date. These records must be retained for at least five (5) years following termination of the Client relationship or dormancy of an account. All such records may be retained in electronic form.
SECTION 5
MONITORING OF CLIENT ACTIVITYIn addition to gathering information from the Clients, the Company continues to monitor the activity of every Client to identify and prevent any suspicious transactions. A suspicious transaction is known as a transaction that is inconsistent with the Client's legitimate business or usual Client's transaction history known from the Client activity monitoring. The Company has implemented the system of monitoring the named transactions (both automatic and, if needed manual) to prevent using the Company's services by the criminals.
SECTION 6
DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL REQUIREMENTS
All Clients' operations to deposit and withdraw funds have the following requirements: in case of bank transfer or transfer from the bank card, name, indicated during the registration must match the name of the owner of the account/bank card. It is possible to withdraw funds from the account via bank transfer only in the same bank and the same account which you used for depositing:- in case of using electronic payment systems, withdraw funds from the trading account is possible only on the system and the account used for depositing;
- if the account was credited in the way that cannot be used for funds withdrawal, the funds may be withdrawn to a bank account of the client or any other way may be used, as agreed with the Company with the help of which the Company is able to prove the identity of the account owner;
- if the account has been credited with funds through various payment systems, funds withdrawal shall be made on a pro rata basis commensurate to the size of each deposit. Any profit gained can be transferred to any account from which the deposit arrived as long as such transfer is possible.