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MOKAS, Cyprus' financial intelligence agency, is the unit charged with fighting money laundering. It serves as the central watchdog for receiving, requesting, analysing, and disseminating suspicious activity data and other relevant details relating to illegal money laundering and terrorism funding. MOKAS primary roles are as follows:
The law mandates all Financial Institutions (FIs) and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) must develop and enforce effective and sufficient enforcement programs to protect their businesses, and the financial system in general, from being used for money laundering or terrorism financing purposes. Essentially, this program is intended to accomplish the following:
Facilitate the recognition and reporting of suspicious transactions
Ensure the strict implementation of the "know-your-client" principle
Maintenance of adequate record keeping procedures
Escalation of suspicions to a ‘Money Laundering Compliance Officer’ and to MOKAS
Inclusion of internal control and risk management procedures for AML/CTF
Examination of every transaction that is considered to be of high risk due to its nature, and especially complicated or unusual transactions
Inclusion of a training program for instructing how to handle transactions suspected to be associated with ML/FT
It is not enough to put an AML/CTF compliance program into motion. An independent evaluation must oversee and review the software. Financial institutions (FIs) and Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPSs) should periodically review their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) programs to ensure their effectiveness and to identify new risk factors. The auditors must be adequately trained to guarantee the reliability of their reports. Among other things, but not exclusively, the independent audit should:
Assess the overall integrity and effectiveness of the AML/CTF compliance program, including policies, procedures and processes
Assess the adequacy of the AML/CTF risk
Examine the adequacy of CDD policies and procedures and whether they comply with regulations
Review case management and ‘Suspicious Transaction Report (STR)’ systems, including an evaluation of the research and referral of unusual transactions
Assess the adequacy of record-keeping and record retention
Track previously identified deficiencies and ensure they are referred to management for correction
Our clients are provided with a secure and simple solution in regard to scanning for politically exposed or high-risk individuals, as well as checking names against sanction, regulatory, law enforcement, and other official lists.
Use our sophisticated scan filters and due diligence workflow to minimise the amount of time you spend sorting through, false matches. Scan results and reporting sections allow you to access customer details, whenever and wherever required, as well as download reports, to customise for further investigation or to provide evidence of your AML program compliance for auditing purposes.
* This page is intended as general information only and should not be relied on as the sole source of information for your AML obligations and AML program. Please visit your local regulatory authority sites for the latest relevant and full information.
