One of the basic tasks of each obligated institution is to inform the General Inspector of Financial Information about situations specified in the Act.
First of all, two concepts should be clarified: an above-threshold transaction and a suspicious transaction.
Above-threshold transaction – when the subject of the transaction is at least EUR 15,000 and it does not matter whether it takes place within one or several operations that are related to each other.
Suspicious transaction – when the circumstances of the transaction may raise reasonable doubts as to its legality, and in particular when they indicate that the transaction is an element of money laundering or terrorism financing.
The obligated institution must provide GIIF with information on:
- purchase or sale transactions of foreign currencies exceeding EUR 15,000
- transfer of funds from outside the territory of the Republic of Poland to the recipient, where the provider of his payment services is an obligated institution
The obligated institution must notify the GIIF about:
- depositing or withdrawing cash if the amount exceeds EUR 15,000
- transfer of funds when the amount exceeds EUR 15,000 , excluding the transfer of funds :
- which concern a term deposit of the same client in one obligated institution
- national to another obligated institution
- carried out by the obligated institution, in its own name and on its own behalf
- carried out on behalf of or for the benefit of public finance sector entities referred to in Article 9 of the Act of 27 August 2009 on Public Finances
- carried out by a bank associating cooperative banks
This information must be provided to the GIIF within 7 days from the date of the transaction.
Moreover, the obligated institution is obliged to implement the GIIF recommendations, which may include, among others:
- bank account blocking
- freezing of other assets
- failure to grant a loan or credit to a specific entity
- failure to make payment
If an institution fails to comply with the requirements imposed by the Act, both criminal and administrative sanctions may be imposed, which may include multi-million fines.
In summary, each obligated institution should report each transaction above the threshold, any suspicious transaction, provide information on the basis of which the obligated institution can be identified, and also make available to the General Inspectorate of Financial Information other information that may prove important in counteracting money laundering and terrorism financing.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of November 2, 2022
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