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PREVENT ION OF MONEY L AUNDER ING AND COUNTER ING THE
F INANCING OF TERROR I SM
AML Un it
This period has seen the AML Unit working on
the MONEYVAL evaluation of the Island and tasks
linked with the DBROA15.
During 2016 an AML/CFT Policy Office was set up
within Cabinet Office, and the Head of the Isle of
Man Delegation to MONEYVAL is now located in
that AML/CFT Policy Office.
Gu idance
The Authority may issue and publish guidance
as it considers appropriate. It issues guidance
for various purposes including to illustrate best
practice, to assist relevant persons in complying
with legislation and to provide examples or
illustrations. Guidance in respect of AML/CFT is
published in the form of the AML/CFT Handbook
which is a “living” document subject to regular
revision and updating. Guidance is not law,
however it is persuasive. Where a person follows
guidance this would tend to indicate compliance
with the legislative provisions, and vice versa.
During this period a number of updates regarding
administrative issues have been made to the
Authority’s AML/CFT Handbook to ensure that the
Handbook remained valid and up to date. There
were also some updates to maintain the lists of
higher risk jurisdictions and jurisdictions that may
pose a higher risk in line with the FATF statements.
In April 2016 the Banking Sector Specific AML/
CFT Guidance Notes were updated and, in October
2016 Sector Specific AML/CFT Guidance Notes for
Virtual Currency Businesses were published.
More substantive changes to guidance issued
by the Authority were put on hold whilst the
MONEYVAL mutual evaluation process was
ongoing.
Moneyva l
The Isle of Man became a participant in the Council
of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation
of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the
Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) in December
2012, and was evaluated by MONEYVAL in 2016.
The evaluation was under MONEYVAL’s 5th round
evaluation process and was conducted against
the FATF 2012 recommendations using the 2013
methodology.
An on-site visit to the Island, focussing on
effectiveness, was conducted by the MONEYVAL
evaluation team over the period 25 April to 6 May
2016. Following the on-site visit a number of draft
reports were received and the Authority provided
input into the Island’s comments on these. Many
teleconferences with the evaluation team also took
place, whose attendance included members of
the Authority. Members of the Authority attended,
as part of the Isle of Man delegation, the face-to-
face meeting with the evaluation team in Paris in
October 2016, and some members of the Authority
also formed part of the Isle of Man delegation to
the MONEYVAL plenary in December 2016, where
the final draft report was discussed and adopted.
The mutual evaluation report was published by
MONEYVAL on 27 January 2017.
Following the publication of the mutual evaluation
report, work has begun regarding assessing the
findings and recommended action points affecting
the Authority.
MONEYVAL holds plenary meetings three times
per year, at which mutual evaluation reports of
its members, and other matters in the AML/CFT
area are discussed. In addition to work linked to
the Island’s evaluation, members of the AML Unit
attended two plenary meetings during the period.
I ndus t r y contact
Throughout the period the AML Unit has been
involved in meetings with industry bodies.
On 1 November 2016 the Authority hosted its
annual Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Fraud
Conference. The conference included talks on
cybercrime, how to spot criminal facilitation and
how to prevent it, and terrorist financing.
On 20 March 2017 the Authority ran an information
session for industry regarding MONEYVAL’s
evaluation of the Island. This session gave an
overview of the main findings in the mutual
evaluation report affecting businesses licensed,
regulated, and registered by the Authority, and
included talks regarding the findings regarding
specific sectors of business.
Isle of Man Financial Services Authority Annual Report 2016/17 • 21