20th Annual Meeting of the APG, Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 15-21, 2017

Sri Lanka hosted the 20th Annual Meeting of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in Colombo during July 15-21, 2017 with the participation of 408 delegates from 41 member countries of the APG and 24 observers from several international observer organisations. The event was graced by His Excellency the President, Maithripala Sirisena and Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Finance and Mass Media.

Press Release

Suspicious Transactions (Format) Regulations of 2017

The Hon. Minister of Finance has issued the Suspicious Transactions (Format) Regulations of 2017 in terms of the Section 29 read with Section 7 of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act. No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), through the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2015/56 dated April 21, 2017. These regulations shall apply to every Institution within the meaning of Section 33 of the FTRA.

STR (Format) Regulations of 2017

Risk-based Supervision and Guidelines for the MVTS Providers

The Financial Intelligence Unit adopted Risk-based Supervision subsequent to the issuance of the Risk-based CDD Rules for the Financial Institutions in 2016. Accordingly, Risk-based Supervision procedures of the FIU were informed to the Licensed Banks and Licensed Finance Companies through the Circular no. 01/17. Further, FIU issued a Guideline on AML/CFT compliance obligations of Money or Value Transfer Service (MVTS) providers through the Circular no. 02/17 in 2017. The said Circulars are available from the below links.

Circular no. 01/17

Circular no. 02/17

FIU-Sri Lanka Entered into a MOU with Department for Registration of Persons

In terms of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department for Registration of Persons on January 11, 2017 at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to exchange information in order to facilitate investigations and prosecutions on money laundering and terrorist financing.

2nd AML/CFT Symposium for the Financial Sector, December 2016

The Financial Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka in association with the Association of Compliance Officers of Licensed Banks – Sri Lanka (ACOB) conducted the 2nd AML/CFT Symposium for the Financial Sector at the auditorium of Centre For Banking Studies, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Rajagiriya on December 16, 2016. Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor delivered the key note address. Experts from the AUSTRAC (FIU-Australia), Sri Lanka Police, Sri Lanka Customs, and Attorney General’s Department made the presentations on contemporary topics followed by Q&A sessions. 122 participants from Financial Institutions attended the sessions.

FIU-Sri Lanka Participates in Fintelekt AML India 2016 Summit

Mr H Amarathunga, Director, Financial Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka, participated as a Guest Speaker in the inaugural session of the 6th Annual Anti-Money Laundering Summit (India) at Hilton Mumbai on October 14, 2016 organized by Fintelekt.

(from left to right): Shirish Pathak, CEO, Fintelekt; Vikas Tandon, Global Head - AML Operations, Risk & Control, Citibank; Pankaj Kumar Mishra, IRS, Director, Financial Intelligence Unit - India; H Amarathunga, Director, Financial Intelligence Unit - Sri Lanka; Hari Kumar Nepal, Dy Director, Financial Intelligence Unit - Nepal; Mohammad Mahbub Alam, Jt Director, Financial Intelligence Unit - Bangladesh; Rahul Oberai, Head - South Asia, Accuity

FIU-Sri Lanka Entered into a MOU with Department of Inland Revenue

In terms of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Inland Revenue on October 19, 2016 at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to exchange information in order to facilitate investigations and prosecutions on money laundering and terrorist financing.

FIU-Sri Lanka Entered into a MOU with Department of Immigration and Emigration

In terms of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006, the FIU-Sri Lanka entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Immigration and Emigration on September 27, 2016 at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to receive information in order to facilitate investigations and prosecutions on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Keynote Address: Imperatives for Building a Stronger AML Regime

Fintelekt India hosted the 2nd Annual Anti-Money Laundering Summit (Sri Lanka) at Taj Samudra, Colombo on April 27, 2016. The Keynote Address was delivered by Mr. H Amaratunga, Director Financial Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka. He was welcomed by Ms. Arpita Bedekar, Research Director, Fintelekt and Mr. Shirish Pathak, CEO, Fintelekt. The forum was well-attended by regulators, bankers, insurance and financial services companies, technology firms and consultants and discussions took place on various aspects of AML, KYC and CFT in Sri Lanka.

Awareness Programme on Customer Due Diligence (CDD) New Rules

Financial intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka conducted awareness programme on Customer Due Diligence (CDD) New Rules at the Central Bank’s conference hall for the Compliance Officers of reporting institutions and the relevant officers of Regulatory Authorities such as Bank Supervision Department, Department of Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka during April 26, 28 and 29, 2016. 191 delegates actively participated the three sessions conducted on this programme.

Eighth Meeting of BIMSTEC Sub Group on Combating the Financing of Terrorism

The Eighth Meeting of the BIMSTEC Sub-Group on Combating the Financing of Terrorism was held at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo from 16-17 March 2016. The meeting was hosted by the Financial Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka in coordination with Ministry of External Affairs. Mr. Arjuna Mahendran, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka delivered the key note address of the meeting. The meeting was attended by about 31 delegates from seven member countries and chaired by Mr. H Amaratunga, Director, FIU-Sri Lanka.

Governor's Key Note Address

Video   Watch the Inaugural Session

A Recent Incident of Attempted Wire Transfer Fraud Highlighted the Importance of Undertaking Proper KYC/CDD

As per the Section 2(2) of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act No 6 2006 (FTRA), all financial institutions have to identify and verify the identity of all their customers based on the Know Your Customer/ Customer Due Diligence Rules (KYC/CDD) issued by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Sri Lanka.
Further, as per the Section 7 of the FTRA, every financial institution is required to file a suspicious transactions report with the FIU promptly if it identifies any transaction which is unusual/suspicious.
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FIU Sri Lanka Signs MOU with FIU Panama

The FIU-Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Financial Analysis Unit of Panama (Financial Intelligence Unit of Panama) on February 02 2016, on the sidelines of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units’ Meetings held in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This MOU was signed in terms of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act No 6 of 2006 to share financial intelligence to counter Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism. The FIU-Sri Lanka has signed MOUs with 29 FIUs so far.

AML/CFT Symposium for Financial Sector, December 2015

The Financial Intelligence Unit – Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Association of Compliance Officers of Licensed Banks – Sri Lanka (ACOB) conducted the AML/CFT Symposium for Financial Sector at the auditorium of People’s Bank, Colombo 01 on December 11, 2015. Mr. P Samarasiri, Deputy Governor delivered the key note address. Resource persons from the World Bank and senior officers of Attorney General’s Department made the presentations on various topics followed by panel discussions. More than 190 participants from Financial Institutions attended the sessions.

Simplification of Customer Due Diligence Measures, December 2015

A workshop on Customer Due Diligence (CDD) measures organized by the Financial Intelligence Unit – Sri Lanka was held at the Centre for Banking Studies (CBS) - Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Colombo during December, 08 - 10 2015. The resource persons from the World Bank conducted the workshop. Participants were consisted of the private sector, regulators, officers of Attorney General’s department and Legal Draftsman’s Department. The workshop was mainly to discuss the new Risk-Based CDD rules for the Financial Sector.

Report on National Risk Assessment on ML/TF

The stakeholders can download the sanitized version of the report on first National Risk Assessment (NRA) on Money Laundering (ML) and Terrorist Financing (TF) conducted with the assistance of the World Bank by the working groups of eighty members representing various organizations such as Law Enforcement Agencies, Regulatory Authorities of financial sector and non-financial sector, and the private sector.

Download NRA report

2nd Mutual Evaluation of Sri Lanka on ML/TF

The second Mutual Evaluation (ME) on Sri Lanka was conducted in 2014 by the APG with the intention of assessing the Sri Lanka’s AML/CFT framework vis-à-vis the new FATF standards of 2012 on AML/CFT. Sri Lanka’s AML/CFT legal and institutional framework as well as the effectiveness of its implementation was assessed by a panel of 8 experts representing APG member countries and the APG Secretariat. The report was adopted at the APG Plenary held in Auckland, New Zealand in July, 2015.

Download ME report

Keynote Address: The Changing Regulatory Landscape of AML Compliance

Fintelekt (pvt) Ltd. (India) hosted the annual Anti-Money Laundering Summit at Taj Samudra, Colombo on April 23, 2015. The keynote address of this event was delivered by Mr. H Amaratunga, Director Financial Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka. This forum provided an opportunity for the participants to discuss on various aspects of AML and CFT related to the banking and financial services industry in Sri Lanka.