CBJ issues new anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulations

AMMAN —The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Saturday issued new anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism regulations for licensed banks, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The regulations, approved by the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Committee on June 23, will replace those issued in 2010.

CBJ said that the rules, which became effective as of June 26, came in response to the recommendations of the international Financial Action Task Force of 2012 and developments in local and international markets.

The regulations included amendments such as working on a risk-evaluation basis, and asking banks to conduct a comprehensive evaluation for possibilities of money laundering and terrorism funding annually.

The new rules stressed the importance of the availability of policies and measures to manage and reduce risks of money laundering and terrorism funding.

New procedures requiring banks to check on clients and identify them have been explained in the regulations, which underscored the need to identify the real beneficiary and inspect their identity on a risk-assessment basis, said Petra.

A risk-based system shall be put in place to know if a Jordanian or foreign client is a high-risk political person, this system will include the measures  to be taken if the person is classified as dangerous.

The new regulations also explained the responsibility of banks during the conducting of transactions whether sending, receiving or mediating in transferring money.

The regulations require developing plans and programmes for training on anti-money laundering and terrorism funding, and allocating a yearly budget for training purposes.