Financial Intelligence Unit Amends Regulations Applicable to Notaries Public and Gambling

On November 30, 2023, the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) issued Resolution 242/2023, amending the regulatory framework regarding the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/TF) applicable to notaries public as reporting entities (SO), to establish and/or amend its obligations, and manage and mitigate ML/TF risks in accordance with the Financial Action Task Force’s international standards, guides, and guidelines.

The main changes include:

1. Preparing a Risk Self-Assessment Technical Report contemplating risk factors such as client, offered services, distribution channels and geographic locations, information provided by the UIF or other authorities about ML/TF risks, and all situations that may affect the ML/TF risk.

The Technical Report must be self-sufficient. It must be updated every two years and filed before the UIF before April 30.

2. Carrying out an Independent External Review in accordance with the UIF Resolution in force (currently Resolution UIF  67/2017). They may do without such review if the corresponding professional association has audited them contemplating the evaluation of the ML/TF Prevention System. The resulting report must be sent to the UIF only with regard to the ML/TF Preventive System reviewed within 120 calendar days as from the expiration of the deadline for submitting the Technical Report. The report must be sent every two years.
3. Incorporating red flags alert signals to determine whether a Suspicious Transaction Report should be filed, for example, when the client incorporates or acquires a company with an object unrelated to the client’s profession or regular activities and there is no reasonable explanation for it; when dealing with high volume transactions involving or referring to real estate in the Border Security Zones established by Decree 253/18; or when multiple companies are incorporated with minimum partners, minimum capital, or the same address.
4. Issuing, among others, an Annual Systematic Report including general information (name, address, and activity) and types and quantity of operations carried out.
5. Incorporating the obligation to carry out ongoing due diligence on all clients and update their identification files according to the risk level assigned to them.
6. Finally, incorporating an automatic updating mechanism, which uses the minimum wage as a reference.

The Resolution will be in force as of March 1, 2023. That day, Resolution UIF 21/2011 and article 3 of Resolution UIF 70/2011 and its amendments will be repealed.

However, certain actions will be mandatory:

• The Risk SelfAssessment Technical Report and the method used must be submitted by April 30, 2026.
• SO required to submit the independent external auditor's report must do so by August 31, 2026.
• The annual systematic report must be submitted between January 2 and March 15, 2025.

Finally, on November 30, 2023, through Resolution 243/2023, the UIF modified the definition of "face-to-face gaming" in the Monthly Systematic Report, removing the reference to the number of transactions considered to determine the sum to report. It also modified the date compliance with the obligations of identification, verification, and knowledge of non-face-to-face or online customers will enter into force. The new date will be on March 1, 2024.