Belarus is vulnerable to money laundering as a result of its extensive challenges with organized crime. Belarus passed the Law on Measures to Prevent the Laundering of Illegally Acquired Proceeds in 2005 to fight the menace of money laundering. This Anti-Money Laundering (AML) legislation provided the legal and organizational framework to combat money laundering and terrorist funding. All financial institutions in Belarus are required to follow the standards and criteria outlined in the AML law. Money laundering offenses are punished by substantial penalties and up to 10 years in jail under the law.
Belarus created the Department of Financial Monitoring (DFM), the country's version of a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), in 2003. The DFM is responsible for monitoring, gathering, and disseminating all financial intelligence on behalf of the State Control Committee. In addition, the DFM examines any evidence of money laundering and forwards it to law enforcement agents for prosecution. Belarus requires financial institutions to disclose to the DFM any financial transactions that exceed $27,000. Furthermore, Belarus is not on the FATF list of countries recognized as having strategic AML shortcomings.
The Central Bank of Belarus
The Central Bank of Belarus is the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus. It was founded in 1992, following the demise of the Soviet Union. The National Bank is governed by the Republic of Belarus' Constitution and the Republic of Belarus' Banking Code. The primary goals of the Bank are to produce the Belarusian Ruble and ensure its stability, purchasing power, and exchange rate to international currencies; to expand and enhance the banking sector; and to ensure the payment system operates efficiently, securely, and reliably.
The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus is the relevant monitoring agency for most banking and other financial institutions' transactions. Therefore, all suspicious transaction information must be reported to the National Bank's Department of Bank Monitoring.
AML/CFT Regulators in Belarus
According to Article 16 of Law No. 165- of June 30, 2014, the National Bank, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Communications and Informatization, Ministry of Taxes and Duties, Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, and State Property Committee exercise control over the activities of persons engaged in financial transactions in the field of AML/CFT/CPF. The General Prosecutor of the Republic of Belarus and its subordinate prosecutors monitor the precise and consistent application of AML/CFT/CPF laws.
Law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Belarus involved in countering money laundering and terrorist financing:
- State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
- Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus
- State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus
- Operational and Analytical Center under the President of the Republic of Belarus
- Financial Investigation Department of the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus
- State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus
- Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus
AML/CFT Regulations of Belarus
The Republic of Belarus' AML/CFT regulatory and legislative framework contains the following regulations:
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 3, 2002, No. 77-З "On Combating Terrorism"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of May 8, 2007, No. 220-З "On Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Belarus"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 17, 2007, No. 263-З "On Internal Affairs Agencies of the Republic of Belarus"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 16, 2008, No. 414-З "On Financial Investigations Agencies of the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of November 11, 2008, No. 454-З "On Border Service Agencies of the Republic of Belarus"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 1, 2010, No. 142-З "On the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus and its Local Agencies"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 13, 2012, No. 403-З "On the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 10, 2012, No. 390-З "On State Security Agencies of the Republic of Belarus"
- Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 10, 2014, No. 129-З "On Customs Regulation in the Republic of Belarus"
- Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus of January 6, 2021, No. 91-З.
Comply with the Sanction Scanner
According to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, banks, financial institutions, and other obligated organizations must adopt risk-based AML/CFT processes to deal with the AML/CFT threats they face. In practice, this means that companies must conduct risk assessments on their customers and develop a proportionate anti-money laundering strategy. Therefore, it is critical for AML/CFT software to include mechanisms and processes for identifying customers and tracking their transactional activity regularly, such as Customer Due Diligence, Transaction monitoring, PEP screening, and Adverse media monitoring. If you want to further discover the advanced features of our AML solution, you may contact us and request a demo.
