On October 26, 2021, agreement number 380 of the Attorney General’s Office was published in the Official Gazette, which contained the new Instructions of the Financial Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Asset Laundering. Said instructions will enter into effect on June 6, 2022 as a result of an extension granted so that the obligated parties may adapt to the new requirements of said instructions. For some, the new instructions represent an additional regulatory burden, for others, great opportunities to obtain legal certainty in their business operations, especially for Fintechs.
The new instructions integrate the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to comply with international standards on risk management and best practices in this area, among which are, among others, the design of a risk-based compliance scheme and the use of new technologies. The former involves focusing the compliance model on the risks to which a company or a specific sector may be exposed by virtue of its economic activity; and the latter involves, on the one hand, the recognition of 100% digital products and business practices (which naturally carry their inherent risks) and the prior assessment of risk before launching new products, especially when they involve the use of new technologies.
