With regard to the duty to report (the violation of which carries sanctions for the financial intermediary), the financial intermediary will first ask himself if any elements constituting Article 9 AMLA are present. The cornerstone of this provision is “a reasonable suspicion.” According to paragraph 1 letter a of this provision, the financial intermediary must file a report if he knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the assets involved in the business relationship originate from any of the offences listed under numbers 1 to 4 of letter a.
Under the obligation to report set forth in Article 9 AMLA, the financial intermediary must file a report to MROS if he has reasonable grounds for suspicion. The legal notion of “reasonable grounds” is imprecise and should not be interpreted too restrictively. The legislature did not intend to establish an obligation to report only if the financial intermediary has clear knowledge of the criminal origin of assets. Rather ‒ according to MROS’s interpretation ‒ the financial intermediary has a duty to report under Article 9 AMLA if, based on various indications, on the special duty to clarify under Article 6 AMLA and on the outcome of this clarification, the financial intermediary presumes or at least cannot rule out that the assets are of criminal origin.
Art. 9 Duty to report
Last modification 24.12.2019