Know Your Client & Anti Money Laundering /
Combating the Financing of Terrorism

In today’s regulated banking environment,
compliance is one of our highest priorities.

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KYC & AML/CFT at EMBank

Global and local trade alike are all subject to rigid Know Your Client (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering / Combating (AML) requirements. At EMBank, compliance is one of our highest priorities. Proper compliance means full adherence to laws, regulations, directives, standards and requirements and a range of advanced tools for sanction screening, and transaction monitoring.

EMBank strictly adheres to all directives, regulations, and the highest standards on all levels of due diligence.

At first glance, compliance requirements put forward by the bank might seem overwhelming and tiresome. Rest assured that our approach to compliance is as much as about safeguarding your business as it is about our regulatory obligations.

Compliance with AML/CTF Regulations

(EU Directives, FATF standards, and local legal acts and requirements from our local regulator, Bank of Lithuania and FNTT)

EMBank’s anti-money laundering and compating financing of terrorism program (hereafter, AML/CFT program) consist of policies and procedures that comprehensively display our commitment to The Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing of the Republic of Lithuania.

In brief, all KYC and AML/CFT related procedures undertaken by the bank are approved by its Management Board. We have clear Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and KYC Procedures in place and conduct a risk-based approach towards all customers. Using the framework of compliance risk management, customers are categorised as low, medium, high or very-high. We also conduct an enterprise-wide risk assessment annually to make sure our overall obligations are met satisfactorily and in line with regulatory requirements.

We also conduct automated customer sanction screening and transaction screening using internationally recognised tools and sanction lists, in addition to having the latest multi-functional monitoring systems in place.

At EMBank we also conduct AML/CFT trainings for all of our employees and have specific procedures for reporting suspicious activity to local authorities.

Thus, we can ensure our partners and clients alike that we are compliant with all relevant AML/CFT regulations coming from EU directives, FATF standards, and local legal acts and requirements from the Bank of Lithuania and Financial Crime Investigation Service under the Lithuanian Ministry of the Interior).

KYC and AML in financial institutions & other industries

KYC and AML/CFT regulations are designed to prevent financial crimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud. By ensuring that companies know who their customers are and that their customer’s funds are coming from legitimate sources, these regulations help to make the financial system safer for everyone.

KYC and AML/CFT procedures are not only restricted to the financial sector; they have been adopted by a wide range of industries to prevent services from being used for illicit purposes. For example, insurance and real estate agents are required to conduct KYC checks on their clients in order to prevent money laundering through the purchase of properties.

In order to comply with KYC and AML/CFT regulations, financial institutions and other companies must collect and verify certain information about their customers. This typically includes name, address, date of birth, and other identifying information. In some cases, additional documentation may be required, such as proof of income or a government-issued ID.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is AML/CFT and what does it mean for your business?
The term money laundering refers to the process of incorporating money that was obtained through any illegal/criminal activity into the financial system. Terrorist financing shall mean any act which constitutes an offence within the meaning of Article 2 of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism of 9 December 1999. The most basic difference between terrorist financing and money laundering involves the origin of the funds. Terrorist financing uses funds for an illegal political purpose, but the money is not necessarily derived from illicit proceeds. AML/CFT helps to ensure that your customers are legitimate and that you are not unknowingly doing business with criminals. AML measures can be time-consuming and costly, but they are essential for protecting your business.

AML encompasses a number of activities, including know your customer (KYC), customer due diligence (CDD) measures, sanction screening and transaction monitoring.

What is KYC (Know Your Client)?
The term “know your client” (KYC) refers to a financial institution’s obligation to verify the identity of its clients when opening accounts and periodically over time. The purpose of KYC is to help the financial institution understand its client’s risks, business dealings, and potential for financial crime. KYC forms a part of a financial institution’s broader AML compliance program.
Who needs to perform AML checks?
Many different types of financial institutions are required to perform AML checks on their customers; These include banks, credit unions, securities firms, and money service businesses. Each of these types of institutions has its own set of AML compliance requirements that must be met in order to avoid penalties from regulators.

The specific requirements for AML checks vary from country to country, but in general, financial institutions are required to perform customer due diligence and continuous transaction monitoring, which includes verifying the customer’s identity and assessing the customer’s risk of money laundering. In some cases, financial institutions may be required to obtain additional information about the customer, such as the source of the customer’s funds.

Why is KYC important for AML?
There are a number of reasons why KYC is so important for AML efforts. First, it allows businesses to screen their customers for any red flags that might indicate these customers are attempting to launder money. Second, it helps businesses to identify and report any suspicious activity they see. And finally, it provides law enforcement with valuable information that can be used to investigate and prosecute money laundering cases.

So, in short, KYC is important for AML because it helps businesses to identify and prevent money laundering and financing terrorism, and it provides law enforcement with the information they need to investigate and prosecute these cases.

Where and when are KYC and AML/CFT measures required?
KYC checks are typically required when a customer opens an account with a financial institution, and AML checks are performed periodically over time.

The answer to this question depends on the jurisdiction in which the company operates. In Lithuania Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing of the Republic of Lithuania requires financial institutions to perform CDD and AML/CFT checks on customers when they open an account. Financial institutions and other obliged entities must in all cases carry out the ongoing monitoring of the customer’s business relationships, including scrutiny of transactions undertaken throughout the course of such relationships, to ensure that the transactions being conducted are consistent with the financial institutions’ or other obliged entities’ knowledge of the customer, its business and risk profile as well as the source of funds.

If you want to learn more about our KYC & AML procedures,

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