Why is this important
The Uzbek authorities continue tightening banking oversight requirements for financial transactions in order to reduce the risks of money laundering and the financing of illegal activities. The new rules expand the list of transactions for which banks are required to independently conduct additional customer verification and record information about senders and recipients of transfers. This means stricter control over both large cash currency transactions and internal electronic transfers within the banking system.
What happened
- Changes have been introduced to the internal control rules for combating the legalization of proceeds obtained through criminal activity, the financing of terrorism, and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in commercial banks.
- Starting from August 9, banks will be required to independently conduct proper customer due diligence for certain one-time transactions and provide expanded information on internal electronic payments and money transfers.
- The new requirements apply both to transactions carried out without opening an account and to cash withdrawals in foreign currency using cards issued by other banks.
Numbers and facts
- Banks will be required to conduct proper customer due diligence when clients withdraw cash foreign currency through a bank cash desk using cards issued by other banks if the transaction amount equals or exceeds 500 BRV. According to current calculations, this is approximately 206 million soums.
- Verification will also become mandatory for transactions amounting to 175 million soums or more conducted without opening or using a bank account.
- For internal electronic payments and money transfers amounting to 25 BCV or more, or about 10.3 million soums, banks will be required to provide information about both the sender and the recipient of the funds.
- In cases where complete information about the sender can be obtained by the receiving bank from other sources, it will be sufficient for the sending bank to indicate the sender’s PINFL, account number, or a unique transaction code that makes it possible to trace the transfer.
- For transfers below 25 BCV, banks will be required to provide the names of the sender and recipient, as well as the account number or transaction identifier that makes it possible to trace the movement of funds.
Context
- For bank clients, this means stricter control over large one-time transactions, especially those involving cash currency operations and transfers without opening an account.
- Commercial banks will have to expand their internal monitoring systems and data storage capabilities for transfers in order to comply with the new requirements for identifying transaction participants.
- Additional details on internal transfers will allow regulators to trace chains of fund movements more quickly and analyze suspicious transactions.
- At the same time, the changes bring banking procedures closer to international requirements in the field of combating money laundering and the financing of illegal activities.
