RBI tightens reporting norms for UCBs to check money laundering
03 Jul 2008
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank has made it mandatory for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) to report all suspicious transactions to the directorate of financial intelligence in a bid to strengthen the anti-money laundering drive.
"The banks should report information in respect of all transactions referred to in Rule 3 to the director, financial intelligence unit-India (FIU-IND)," RBI said in a notification today.
All documents pertaining to complex, unusual large transactions and all unusual patterns of transactions having no apparent economic and lawful purpose
should be be examined and the findings should be properly recorded, RBI said.
These records should be preserved for 10 years as per the PMLA, 2002.
UCBs should also put in place appropriate software "to throw alerts when the transactions are inconsistent with risk categorisation and updated profile of customers," RBI said.
The appropriate software, it added, is essential for the effective identification and reporting of suspicious transactions.
In case, all branches of a bank are not computerised, RBI said the principal officer of UCBs concerned should cull out the transaction details and file the Cash Transaction Report (CTR) and STR in electronic form with the FIU-IND.
The central bank has also clarified that individual cash transaction below Rs50,000 need not be mentioned in the CTRs.
RBI through Wednesday's notification has tightened the rules issued in 2202 in pursuance of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday made it mandatory for Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) to report all suspicious transactions to the Directorate of Financial Intelligence as part of an exercise to strengthen the anti-money laundering drive.
The central bank had earlier issued similar guidelines for the commercial banks and regional rural banks.
"The banks should report information in respect of all transactions referred to in Rule 3 to the Director, Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND)," RBI said in a notification today.
The central bank said all documents pertaining to complex, unusual large transactions and all unusual patterns of transactions having no apparent economic and lawful purpose
should be be examined and the findings should be properly recorded. These records should be preserved for 10 years as per the PMLA, 2002.
RBI has also asked the UCBs to put in place appropriate software "to throw alerts when the transactions are inconsistent with risk categorisation and updated profile of customers."
The appropriate software, it added, is essential for the effective identification and reporting of suspicious transactions.
In case, all branches of a bank are not computerised, RBI said the principal officer of UCBs concerned should cull out the transaction details and file the Cash Transaction Report (CTR) and STR in electronic form with the FIU-IND.
The central bank has also clarified that individual cash transaction below Rs 50,000 need not be mentioned in the CTRs.
RBI through today's notification has tightened the rules issued in 2202 in pursuance of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The RBI had earlier issued similar guidelines for the commercial banks and regional rural banks.
