Financial Information Unit (UIF) – Resolution 49/2024: Virtual asset service providers as obligated parties
Compliance & Investigations Department Report | Financial Information Unit (UIF) – Resolution 49/2024: Virtual asset service providers as obligated parties
Dear all
On 03/25/2024 a new Resolution 49/2024 (the “Resolution 49/24”) of the Financial Information Unit (“UIF”) was published, which regulates the scope of the obligations regarding the Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Financing of Terrorism and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (“AML/CFT/FP”) for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP), a new type of Obligated Entity, added to such status through the amendment introduced by means of Law 27. 739 to Law 25246.
Resolution 49/2024 establishes the minimum requirements for the identification, evaluation, monitoring, management and mitigation of the risks ML/FT/FP, which the VASPs must adopt.
It defines the following terms:
– Virtual Assets (AV): the digital representation of value that can be traded and/or transferred digitally and used for payments or investments. In no case shall virtual assets be understood as legal tender in the national territory and currencies issued by other countries or jurisdictions (fiat currency).
– Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP): any human or legal person that, as a business, performs one (1) or more of the following activities or operations for or on behalf of another human or legal person: i. exchange between virtual assets and legal tender currencies (fiat currencies); ii. exchange between one (1) or more forms of virtual assets; iii. transfer of virtual assets; iv. custody and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments that allow control over them; and v. participation and provision of financial services related to the offer of an issuer and/or sale of a virtual asset.
– Client: those human persons, legal entities, or other legal structures -national and/or foreign-, and those acting on their behalf and order, with whom a contractual relationship of a financial, economic or commercial nature is established on an occasional or permanent basis. Mere suppliers of goods and/or services shall not be classified as Clients, unless they maintain with the Obliged Entity ordinary business relationships other than mere supply.
The main AML/CFT/PF prevention obligations that Resolution 49/24 imposes on VASPs are in line with those required of other obliged parties, this being:
– Register before the UIF within 30 days as from the effective date of becoming a VASP before the VASP Registry created by Law 27.739, implemented by the National Securities Commission (CNV), through R.G. No. 994, published on 03/25/2024, in the Official Gazette [(see the following article in this same newsletter)].
– To appoint a Compliance Officer.
– To have an AML/FT/FP System with a risk-based approach, including policies, procedures, and controls. This includes the completion of an AML/TF/PF risk self-assessment report.
– Identify and verify the identity of its Clients, including control over the status of Politically Exposed Person (“PEP”), their inclusion in the Public Registry of Persons and Entities linked to acts of Terrorism and its Financing (“RePET”), as well as the identification of the Final Beneficiaries of the clients who are legal entities (both local and foreign).
– To monitor the activity of its clients, analyze and record unusual transactions.
– Detect and report suspicious ML/TF/PF operations.
– Record, file and keep information and documentation of Clients, beneficial owners, operations, transactions, and other required documents.
– Evaluate the effectiveness of its AML/TF/PF Prevention System through independent external review.
– Train your staff in AML/FT Prevention / PF Prevention.
Additionally, the PSAV shall comply with the following systematic reports:
Report of Transactions made with Virtual Assets: the PSAVs shall report all transactions made equal to or greater than six SMVM. It must be submitted from the 1st to the 15th inclusive of each month and must refer to the transactions carried out in the previous calendar month.
Report of client registrations and cancellations: Must be submitted between the 1st and 15th of each month inclusive and refer to the operations carried out in the previous calendar month.
Annual Systematic Report: It shall be submitted between January 2 and March 15 inclusive of each year and shall refer to the previous calendar year. The first report must be submitted between January 2 and March 15, 2025, and will contain information for the year 2024.
Beyond the deferral of certain obligations, the resolution became effective as from 3/26/2024.
Sincerely,
Maximiliano N. D’Auro
Gustavo Papeschi