Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing

Money laundering and terrorist financing pose a serious threat to the safety and integrity of the financial system. Combating money laundering and terrorist financing is a complex and challenging task requiring national and international cooperation in raising the awareness of and detecting and preventing such conduct.

The prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in the Republic of Croatia is regulated by the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act. Hanfa supervises its implementation by its supervised entities.

In addition to its supervisory activities, Hanfa also:

• cooperates with other national and international authorities in the AML/CTF area;
• organises education for institutions it supervises;
• issues guidelines for the implementation of regulations in the AML/CTF area
• carries out other tasks related to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act lay down a series of requirements relating to financial institutions and other entities subject to the Act executing financial transactions or transactions in other types of assets. The main purpose of the Act is to protect the integrity of the financial system and prevent its abuse for the purpose of illegal activities such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

Pursuant to the Act, obliged entities are required to fulfil the following obligations when carrying out their activities:

1. make a money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment
2. have in place policies, controls and procedures to mitigate and manage effectively the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing
3. take customer due diligence measures in the manner and under the conditions prescribed by the Act
4. take measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in establishments and companies in which the obliged entity has a majority holding or majority voting right and whose registered office is situated in another Member State or a third country
5. appoint an authorised person and their deputy to implement AML/CTF measures (a sufficient number of deputies, taking account of the organisational structure of the obliged entity) and ensure adequate conditions for the performance of their work
6. provide for regular professional training and education of employees and ensure regular internal audit of the AML/CTF system set up by obliged entities
7. draw up and regularly update a list of indicators for detecting customers, suspicious transactions, and funds in respect of which there are reasonable grounds for the suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing
8. report and submit the prescribed and required data, information and documentation on transactions, funds and persons to the Anti-Money Laundering Office
9. ensure data storage and protection, and keep the records of data as prescribed by the Act
10. fulfil the obligation relating to credit and financial institutions concerning the establishment of an adequate information system appropriate to their respective organisational structure and money laundering and terrorist financing risk exposure for the purpose of a comprehensive assessment of customer, business relationship and transaction risks, and ongoing monitoring of business relationships, in order to timely and fully report to the Anti-Money Laundering Office and
11. carry out other tasks and implement other measures prescribed by the Act and subordinate regulations adopted under the Act.

The Act also prescribes misdemeanour provisions that include fines and a ban on carrying out financial transactions.