Anti Money Laundering

Bancoii and other financial institutions may be used unwittingly as intermediaries in a process to conceal the true source of funds that were originally derived from criminal activity or in the process of funding criminal activity, including terrorism. Even unintentional involvement in criminal activity is of great concern to Bancoii’s management and shareholders since the public’s confidence in the institution may be undermined through such activity.

The Law places special responsibilities upon banks and financial institutions. Under the law, banks are required, among others, to adhere to prescribed procedures for customer identification, record keeping and internal reporting, as well as to ensure that employees handling financial business are aware of their obligations under the law and receive adequate training designed to assist them in recognizing suspicious money laundering transactions. They are also required to appoint properly qualified persons as Money Laundering Compliance Officers. Failure to comply with the above requirements amounts to an offence punishable with imprisonment, a fine or both.

Bancoii adheres strictly to these requirements and complies fully with the provisions of the law. It gives special emphasis on the “Know Your Customer” principle,and the due diligence concept, which form the central part of the Bank’s anti-money laundering policy.

A senior official has been appointed as a Money Laundering Compliance Officer, stationed at Head Office, responsible for the implementation of the Bank’s anti-money laundering policy. There are also assistant compliance officers stationed at district branches who provide assistance to the employees on ML issues and liaise with the compliance officer for the effective implementation of the policy and procedures. Suspicious transactions are reported to the compliance officer who decides whether they should be reported to the unit for Combating Money Laundering or not.

Furthermore, Bancoii has an on going training programme for all employees at all levels, with special attention to those engaged in activities such as account opening, cash deposits and transfer of funds. While it is accepted that Bancoii may not always be able to determine whether a transaction originates from, or is a part of, a criminal activity, Bancoii will conduct its business in compliance with the general principles in this policy statement. Bancoii will:

Take reasonable steps to determine the true identity of all customers and beneficial ownership of Bancoii products and services
Not knowingly accept funds from, make loans to, or do any type of business with customers whose money, Bancoii believes, is derived from criminal activity or is intended to conduct, finance or support terrorist activities
Not ignore indications that a customer’s money originated from criminal or other money laundering activities or is intended to conduct, finance or support terrorist activities
Take appropriate measures, consistent with the law, when Bancoii becomes aware of facts which lead to a reasonable presumption that funds held by it are from criminal or other money laundering activity, that transactions entered into are themselves criminal in purpose, that funds are owned by a government designated terrorist entity (such as those identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control), or are intended to conduct or further terrorist activities,including, for example, denial of assistance to the customer, severing relations with the customer, closing or freezing accounts and when appropriate filing of a suspicious activity report
Avoid providing support or assistance to customers seeking to deceive law enforcement agencies through the provision of false, altered, incomplete or missing information or by informing customers that their activities are, may be, or have been investigated or reported as suspicious
Cooperate fully with law enforcement and regulatory agencies to the extent that it can do so under all applicable foreign and domestic laws
Report all identified instances of suspicious activity to the extent that it can do so under all applicable foreign and domestic laws
Comply with all anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws and regulations, including reporting and blocking of assets, to the fullest extent that it can do so under all applicable foreign and domestic laws