Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program | PATRIOT GOLD GROUP
Adoption of Compliance Plan
The purpose of the AML compliance plan is to establish the general framework for the fight against money laundering, terrorism, corruption and other financial crimes.
Patriotgoldgroup.com is committed to reviewing the AML strategies and objectives on an ongoing basis and to maintaining an effective AML program. We are committed to high standards of AML compliance and require management, employees, and agents to adhere to these standards in preventing the use of our products and services for money laundering purposes.
Adherence to this policy is absolutely fundamental for ensuring that we comply with applicable anti-money laundering legislation. We are required and committed to adhere to minimum standards of anti-money laundering compliance based on applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations and any additional standards from our regulatory supervisors which clarify the main statutory duties imposed on our institution.
Employee Training
A key component of an effective compliance program is employee training. Minimum training must include how to identify suspicious activity and structured transactions, recordkeeping, recording and reporting requirements, verifying identification, and familiarity with anti-money laundering statutes.
All employees should be required to read this manual and sign a copy of the Acknowledgement of Employee Training that will be retained in their personnel file or Anti-Money Laundering files.
Money Laundering Overview
Money laundering is defined as “the attempt to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of illegally obtained money.”
Three Stages of Money Laundering
There are three stages of money laundering. By using these stages a person can make illegal funds appear to come from a legal or legitimate source.
Placement
A person purchases money orders, traveler’s checks, prepaid cards, and money transfers with the funds from a crime.
Layering
A person moves money from one financial institution to another and changes the form of the money through multiple transactions, making it hard to trace the money to its original source.
Integration
Changing the money into a seemingly legitimate form, such as purchasing automobiles, businesses or real estate, that can later be sold.
OFAC — Office of Foreign Assets Control
OFAC is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for enforcing U.S. government sanctions against countries, organizations and individuals. Sanctions programs normally involve blocking assets to further national security.
Many sanctioned individuals, known as Specially Designated Nationals, are known drug dealers and terrorists. All U.S. entities are prohibited from conducting financial transactions with Specially Designated Nationals.
The current sanctions information and lists are available from the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Suspicious Transactions
Employees shall be trained to identify transactions that may involve use of the dealer to facilitate money laundering or terrorist financing, including, but not limited to, transactions that involve:
- Unusual payment methods, such as the use of large amounts of cash, multiple or sequentially numbered money orders, traveler’s checks or cashier’s checks, or payment from third parties;
- Unwillingness by a customer or supplier to provide complete or accurate contact information, financial references or business affiliations;
- Attempts by a customer or supplier to maintain an unusual degree of secrecy with respect to the transaction, such as a request that normal business records not be kept;
- Purchases or sales that are unusual for the particular customer or supplier, or type of customer or supplier; and
- Purchases or sales that are not in conformity with standard industry practice.
Employees shall do all of the following:
- Require appropriate customer identification for all transactions
- Report applicable cash transactions above $10,000 with an IRS Form 8300
- Report suspicious transactions to appropriate governmental authorities without delay
PatriotGoldGroup.com shall at all times cooperate with and take guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, United States Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service and other appropriate regulatory and enforcement agencies.
Designation of Compliance Officer
PatriotGoldGroup.com agrees to formally designate a competent individual to serve as its Compliance Officer. The designated employee should be in a position of responsibility that allows them to implement an effective Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program.
The Compliance Officer, along with senior management, is responsible for ensuring ongoing compliance with all federal and state anti-money laundering laws and regulations.
The Compliance Officer’s duties will include ensuring the anti-money laundering program is implemented effectively; ensuring that the anti-money laundering program is updated as necessary to reflect changes in the risk assessment, statutory requirements and further guidance issued by the Department of the Treasury; and ensuring that appropriate personnel are trained in accordance with the policy.
The Compliance Officer is also responsible for ensuring that a periodic review is conducted on the quality of the Compliance Program. This review may not be conducted by the Compliance Officer. The review should be conducted by a senior-level employee or qualified professional who understands the requirements of an effective compliance plan.
Independent Review
A precious metals dealer subject to applicable requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act must conduct an independent review of its compliance program. A senior-level employee of PatriotGoldGroup.com, or another qualified party such as its attorney or accountant, may conduct the review. The designated Compliance Officer cannot conduct the review.
Whoever conducts the review must be familiar with the Compliance Program and the anti-money laundering requirements for a precious metals dealer.
The frequency and scope of reviews should be commensurate with the dealer’s assessment of money laundering and terrorist-financing risks associated with its line of business.
When making this assessment, the dealer should consider:
- The types of products the dealer buys and sells;
- The nature of customers, suppliers, distribution channels and geographic locations;
- The extent to which the dealer conducts transactions outside established customer or supplier relationships;
- Whether payment or account reconciliation is routed to or from jurisdictions identified as presenting terrorism or money-laundering concerns; and
- Applicable guidance and special measures issued by the Department of the Treasury.
USA PATRIOT Act Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program
The USA PATRIOT Act requires precious metals dealers subject to applicable rules to adopt a written anti-money laundering compliance program reasonably designed to ensure proper recordkeeping and reporting of certain transactions and prevent the business from being used to launder money.
The anti-money laundering compliance program must at a minimum include:
A. Internal Policies, Procedures and Controls
Internal policies, procedures and controls based upon the dealer’s assessment of money-laundering and terrorist-financing risks associated with its line of business.
These controls include policies and provisions for complying with applicable requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act, 31 U.S.C. 5311 et seq.
The dealer shall incorporate controls to assist in identifying transactions that may involve the use of the dealer to facilitate money laundering or terrorist financing. These controls should include provisions for making reasonable inquiries and for refusing to consummate, withdrawing from or terminating suspicious transactions.
B. Designation of a Compliance Officer
The Compliance Officer is responsible for assuring that:
- Policies and procedures are followed
- Procedures are updated as required
- Training and education are provided
- Reports are properly filed
C. Ongoing Employee Training Program
The program shall:
- Explain policies and procedures
- Teach employees how to identify suspicious activity
- Address applicable identification, recordkeeping and reporting requirements
D. Independent Review
- The review should take place as needed and be as thorough as required based on the risks of the business.
- The review may be performed by an employee or qualified outside party, but not by the designated Compliance Officer.
This plan provides the framework needed to support compliance with applicable requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act.