After the initial evaluation process, coordinated by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), to increase the level of knowledge of the Physical persons, in terms of money laundering prevention, which carries out one of the 16 vulnerable activities provided for by the Money Laundering Act, this case announced that seven out of 10 people did not pass the exam.
According to the transparency request 3300263222000111, made by an individual, it was reported that, in this first evaluation carried out in November last year, 1 105 people showed up to write the exam, of which 372 achieved a pass result, i.e. only 33% of the total, while the rest (67%) failed it.
“The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the level of knowledge of the people who applied for the certificate, regarding the fundamental aspects in terms of money laundering prevention and terrorist financing in the sector of vulnerable activities”, the body said in detail. in charge of Pablo Gomez Alvarez.
According to the examination guide, said evaluation focused on topics such as the regime for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing; the national and international legal framework; knowledge of the sector of vulnerable activities; amongst other things.
Currently, the universe of subjects that carry out a vulnerable activity, and which are under the supervision of the Service Tax Administration (SAT), is of the order of 100,000, carrying out one of the 16 activities provided for by law. When their operations exceed these thresholds, the OWN must be notified by the supervisory body.
Since September 2020, the FIU, then in charge of Santiago Nieto, has started coordinating this process, hand in hand with the central administration of Vulnerable Activities of the SAT, then led by Ramón García Gibson.
Months later, the FIU, in the voice of the now former Director of Regulatory Affairs of that institution, Mireya Valverde Okón, noted that this process would serve for Mexico to inform the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the progress it is making. made in terms of effectiveness of combating money laundering, after the observations made to the country and which are reflected in the mutual evaluation released in 2018.
“What the FATF is evaluating is whether a country achieves the results, and for that purpose we need to send figures, statistics, and the certification will undoubtedly influence the immediate results that come with risk, evaluation, with the issue of oversight and with ‘ some other immediate results ”, Valverde Okón said in August 2021, when he was still in the FIU, since last December he resigned from that institution, taking his place by Sandino Luna, a man of all the confidence of Pablo Gómez .
At the time, the former official noted that, although the certification is not mandatory, as in some sectors of the financial sector, it is ideal to obtain it for the benefit of the same vulnerable activity, and its compliance scheme, as the ecosystem. He also indicated this may be temporarily obligatory, but not in the short term.
This first evaluation was conducted on 27 November in various offices of the country and it is expected that the OWN will periodically conduct more examinations; at least twice a year.
The risk
In November 2021, in a surprising move, Pablo Gómez Álvarez was appointed head of the FIU instead of Santiago Kleinseun Castillo. Sources say that once he learned of the FIU certification process for the sector for vulnerable activities, the new boss of this institution made serious criticism of the process.
In the financial system, the National Baking and Stock Commission (CNBV) began in 2015 the certification process for compliance officers and other staff who carry out part of the money laundering prevention scheme of financial entities.
To date, it is known that more than 3,500 people have obtained their certification, which they have to renew every five years. In some sectors of the financial system it is mandatory to have certified staff, especially in the sector of financial technology institutions and those who need to renew their registration with the government.
For the authorities, although it is not mandatory to have the certification, obtaining it helps both the entities and their counterparts to strengthen the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in the country.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx