KYC and AML policy

Most recently updated on 2022-08-25

1. General Framework

The Policy on the Prevention and Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (“AML Policy” or “the Policy”) sets out the consistent principles and standards of Globe Monnaie SRL (“Company” or “TOKERO”) with respect to the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing, and is designed to ensure that the business is conducted in accordance with applicable legal obligations with due regard for prudent, sound practices to prevent attempts to use the Company and its services in money laundering schemes.

1.1. Objectives

The objective of the Policy is to:

  • present the AML/CFT framework;
  • define the roles and responsibilities of persons involved in the AML/CFT process;
  • define the operating rules of the AML/CFT framework.

1.2. Legislative Framework

  • Law no. 129/2019 on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as amending and supplementing certain regulations, updated with subsequent additions and amendments;
  • Norms of 2 March 2021 implementing the provisions of Law no. 129/2019;
  • Order no. 14/2021 ONPCSB Instructions for reporting and completing dbf files for ONPCSB reporting; 
  • GEO 21.04.2022/53on amending and supplementing Law no. 129/2019 on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorism financing and amending and supplementing certain regulatory acts; 
  • Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering or terrorism financing and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU;
  • Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 of 14 July 2016 supplementing Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council by identifying high-risk third party countries with strategic deficiencies;
  • Regulation (EU) 2015/847 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on information accompanying transfers of funds and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1781/2006, as subsequently amended and supplemented;
  • Law no. 217/2009 approving Government Emergency Ordinance no. 202/2008 on the implementation of international sanctions;
  • GEO no. 202/2008 on the implementation of international sanctions, as amended;
  • Law no. 535/2004 on preventing and combating terrorism, as amended and supplemented.

1.3. Scope of application

This Policy applies to all customers, employees, and contractors/subcontractors of the Company.

1.4. Definitions

  • Money laundering (ML) means the exchange or transfer of property, knowing that it is derived from the commission of a criminal offence, for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the property or of assisting the person who committed the offence from which the property is derived to evade prosecution, trial or punishment; concealing or disguising the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of property or rights therein, knowing that the property is derived from crime, acquiring, possessing or using property by a person other than the person who committed the offence from which the property is derived, knowing that the property is derived from crime.
  • Financing of terrorist acts TF) means making movable or immovable property available to a terrorist entity, knowing that it is being used to support or commit terrorist acts, as well as making or collecting funds, directly or indirectly, or carrying out any financial-banking operations. 
  • Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) – means any natural person who ultimately owns or controls the customer and/or natural person on whose behalf or in whose interest a transaction, operation or activity is carried out, directly or indirectly.
  • Customer means any natural person, legal entity, or unincorporated entity with which the Company conducts business relations or with which it conducts other transactions on a permanent or occasional basis. A customer of the Company shall be any person with a full identification according to the KYC policy. Until this stage, that particular entity is considered a Prospect.
  • Publicly Exposed Persons (PEPs) are natural persons who hold or have held important public functions, their family members, and persons publicly known as close associates of natural persons who hold important public functions. After the expiry of one year from the date on which the individual ceased to hold an important public office, the Company is no longer required to consider the individual as publicly exposed.
  • AML/CFT – combating money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism;
  • ML/TF - money laundering/terrorism financing;
  • Virtual currencies represent a digital representation of value that is not issued or guaranteed by a central bank or public authority, is not necessarily linked to a legally established currency, and does not have the legal status of currency or money but is accepted by individuals or legal entities as a means of exchange and can be transferred, stored, and traded electronically.
  • Transfer of funds means any transaction carried out, at least in part, by electronic means on behalf of a payer through a payment service provider, to place funds at the disposal of the payee through a payment service provider, whether or not the payer and the payee are the same person and whether or not the payer's payment service provider and the payee's payment service provider are identical, including money remittances, whether domestic or cross-border.
  • Digital wallet provider means an entity that provides services to securely store private cryptographic keys on behalf of its customers for holding, storing, and transferring virtual currency.
  • Office - National Office for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering.

2. Framework for preventing and combating money laundering and terrorism financing 

2.1. ML/TF Compliance Officer

In application of the provisions of the legislation on money laundering and terrorism financing, the Company has appointed a ML/TF Compliance Officer with responsibilities for the application of Law no. 129/2019 and the regulations issued in application thereof. 

2.2. Know Your Customer (KYC) measures

In order to identify and prevent money laundering activities, the Company applies Know Your Customer (KYC) measures to all existing and new customers, as well as measures to know/declare the ultimate beneficial owner. The Company applies know-your-customer and know-your-existing-customer measures on a risk basis or when the relevant circumstances relating to the customer change or where reporting entities have a legal obligation during the relevant calendar year to contact the customer to review all relevant information relating to the ultimate beneficial owner.

The Company has established a process for approving and classifying clients into risk classes whereby appropriate measures are taken to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. On a risk basis, the Company applies simplified, standard or additional know-your-customer measures (hereinafter referred to “due-diligence measures”). The implemented measures also allow for the identification of the ultimate beneficial owner, where appropriate.

The Company shall decide on the appropriate type of additional KYC measures, including the amount of additional information requested and the extent of the increased monitoring action, on a case-by-case basis and depending on the reason why an occasional transaction or business relationship has been classified as high risk.

TOKERO checks international databases for PEPs, via dedicated third party providers.

Inclusion in PEP classification equally applies to: 

  • first-degree relatives of PEP;
  • legal persons whose de facto beneficiaries are PEPs or first-degree relatives of PEPs;
  • persons known as associates of the PEPs whether they are interposed as natural persons or beneficiaries of the legal person.

The Company does not initiate or enter into contractual relations with shell banks, any person or entity included in the OFAC lists of sanctioned countries or SDNs, the list of natural persons and legal entities suspected of committing or financing acts of terrorism (Romanian Government Decision no. 784/2004) or the list of natural persons and legal entities suspected of committing or financing acts of terrorism (Romanian Government Decision no. 1,272/2005). In the event that the inclusion in this category occurs during the course of the business relationship, the Company shall comply with the provisions of the legislation on international sanctions.

2.3. Reporting

TOKERO has available systems that allow it to promptly transmit, at the request of the Office and/or prosecution authorities, information obtained from the application of know-your-customer measures and records of transactions over the last 5 years.

2.4. Third party execution

TOKERO may outsource to other third parties the application of customer due-diligence measures, in compliance with the GDPR provisions applicable to individuals, apart from third parties located in high-risk countries. The Company shall contractually establish the obligation of the third party to which the activity has been outsourced to apply customer due-diligence measures to comply with legal provisions, as well as the mechanisms by which the Company ensures the contractor's compliance with them. The Company remains responsible for the application of legal obligations.

2.5. Archiving

TOKERO keeps the following documents and information in a form admissible in legal proceedings for the purpose of preventing, detecting, and investigating possible cases of ML/TF:

  1. all records obtained through the application of know-your-customer measures, such as copies of identification documents, monitoring and verifications carried out and the results of analyses carried out in relation to the customer, customer files and correspondence, including information obtained through electronic means of identification necessary for compliance with know-your-customer requirements;
  2. all documents necessary for the reconstruction of transactions.

The documents and information referred to above shall be retained for the duration of the business relationship and thereafter for a period of five years from the termination of the business relationship or from the date of the occasional transaction, except where it is necessary to extend the period of retention for the purpose of prevention, detect or investigate money laundering or terrorism financing activities, in which case the period of archiving shall be extended by the period specified by the competent authorities, but not exceeding five years.

At the end of the retention period, the Company will delete the personal data, unless other legal provisions require the continued retention of the data. Personal data are processed by the Company based on this law and in compliance with the legislation in force on the processing of personal data only for the purpose of preventing money laundering and terrorism financing and are not further processed in a way incompatible with this purpose.

2.6. Accepted documents

A Proof of Sources of Funds (POSOF) is any (collection of) document(s) that explains where the funds used for a fiat deposit originated and where the crypto assets used for a fiat withdrawal originated.

Any POSOF document submitted needs to cover all deposits or withdrawals via that particular funding method.

Acceptable Individual POSOF:

  • Tax Return (last two taxable years)
  • Letter from Bank/Accountant stating assets
  • Bank statement and/or equities statement
  • Paystub(s) showing previous two years income
  • An accountant’s letter stating a client’s real estate holdings and inheritance suffice for net worth

Acceptable Corporate POSOF

  • Audited Financials
  • Tax Return (last two taxable years)
  • Bank or Brokerage Letter Stating Assets
  • Standardized statement from a digital asset exchange
  • Proof of balance at crypto exchange(s)
  • Signed message on crypto wallet