Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 May 2017
82. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Finance the reason it took a significant length of time for oversight officials to charge a bank (details supplied) for terrorist financing; the reason oversight officials did not flag suspicious transactions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21232/17]
View answerI am advised by the Central Bank that its investigation into designated persons' compliance with anti-money laundering ("AML") and countering the financing of terrorism ("CFT") preventative obligations set out in Criminal Justice Act 2010 (CJA 2010) was conducted under the Central Bank's Administrative Sanctions Procedure (ASP) as per Part IIIC of the Central Bank Act 1942.
For the purpose of clarification, an investigation under ASP is not a criminal investigation. The Central Bank's supervisory remit is to monitor credit and financial institutions for compliance with AML/CFT control measures. It has not a statutory remit to investigate or prosecute substantive money laundering or terrorist financing offences.
Any fine that is imposed for AML/CFT breaches by the Central Bank under ASP relates to control breaches and not to actual money laundering or terrorist financing offences.
One of the relevant AML/CFT breaches for an ASP case can be a breach of section 42 of the CJA 2010, which requires designated persons to submit a suspicious transaction report ("STR") to An Garda Síochána and to the Revenue Commissioners "as soon as practicable". Designated persons are obliged to submit STRs where a suspicion or knowledge of money laundering or terrorist financing arises during the course of business.
The duration of ASP investigations conducted by the Central Bank is determined by a number of factors, including inter alia the complexity of the matters under investigation; the fact that the ASP is a legal process requiring fair procedures to be followed (including procedures relating to the acquisition of relevant evidence) and the requirement for remediation measures (which can be significant) to be addressed before the case can be finalized.
