Foreign Exchange Dealers and Money Remittance Service

The Financial Transactions Reporting Act applies to all those entities in Fiji that are engaged in the business of:

1. The remittance or transfer of funds or the value of money or negotiating transfers of funds or the value of money on behalf of other persons;
2. delivering funds or;
3. issuing, selling or redeeming traveller's cheques, money orders or other similar instruments.

Your key obligations under this Act are as follows:

1. Identity and verify your customers;
2. Obtain information on customers requesting electronic fund transfers
3. Monitor your customers transactions;
4. Maintain proper customers records;
5. Report transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit;
6. Implement appropriate internal controls and systems to protect your business from being used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes

Customer Identification and Verification

You must undertake specific procedures to identify customers with whom you have an on-going business relationship.

For "off-the-street" or "occasional" customers, specific procedures must be carried out to identify those customers who request transactions equivalent to $5,000 or more or its equivalent in foreign currency.

For further guidelines refer to:

• Policy Advisory 2/2007 - Customer Due Diligence of Customers Who Have Insufficient or No Official Identification Documents
• Policy Advisory 3/2007 - Identification and Verification of a Customer's Signature
• Policy Advisory 4/2007 - Identification and Verification of Occasional Transactions
• Policy Advisory 1/2010 - Identification and Verification of a Customer's Signature
• Policy Advisory 2/2010 - Use of Referee Letter to Verify a Customer's Identity
• Guideline 4 of 20 August 2009 - Customer Identification & Verification

Obtain complete information on customers requesting electronic fund transfers

When dealing with electronic fund transfers, you must obtain accurate and complete information about the customer requesting to transfer funds or the originator of the transfer. The details that you must obtain and record are:

• Customer's bank or account number; or a unique reference number if there is no account number
• Amount of payment order or transfer
• This information on the originator customer should to be attached to the transfer message.

Monitor your Customers' transactions

You must scrutinize or monitor your customer's transactions to ensure that the transactions being conducted are consistent with your knowledge of the customer and his or her background.

When receiving a fund transfer, you must scrutinize any transfers that are not accompanied by complete information about the originator customer.

For further guidelines refer to: 
Guideline 1 of 26 October 2007 – Suspicious Transactions

Maintain proper Customers' records

You must establish and maintain records of your customers' identity, transactions and records of all reports of transactions made to the FIU. Any enquiries made to your business by the FIU and other law enforcement agency must also be recorded.

For further guidelines refer to: Policy Advisory 7/2007- Record Keeping

Report transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit

You must report the following types of transactions to the FIU:

Exemptions apply to certain types of cash transactions. For guidelines on exemptions to cash transaction reporting refer to: Policy Advisory 6/2007- Application of Exemption Provisions for Reporting of Cash Transactions

• Cash transactions of $10,000 or more including equivalent amounts in foreign currency. "Cash" includes currency, bank drafts, bank cheques, bearer bonds, traveller's cheques, postal notes and money orders.
• All International Electronic Fund Transfers transactions coming into or going out of Fiji at the request of a customer or international electronic funds transfers.
   
• All Suspicious Transactions including transactions or attempted transactions for which satisfactory evidence of identity was not obtained from the customer.

Terrorist Property

If you have in your possession or your control any property which is owned or is controlled by a terrorist or terrorist group or if you have information on a transaction or proposed transaction relating to a terrorist property, you must report this information to the FIU.
For further guidelines refer to: 
Guideline 2 of 26 October 2007 - Reporting a Suspicious Transaction by Paper
Guideline 3 of 22 May 2009 - Reporting Cash Transactions of $10,000 or above by Paper

 

Internal controls and systems

Other measures that your financial institution must implement are:

• Develop and implement internal policies and procedures to comply with the FTR Act.
• Appoint a "Compliance Officer" to be responsible for ensuring compliance with the FTR Act and Regulations.
• Regularly review your compliance with your internal anti money laundering and terrorist financing polices and procedures.
• Implement adequate recruitment procedures to screen potential employees.
• Have regular training for staff on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing issues and legislative requirements.