As part of the legal and regulatory obligations in force, and in application of Crédit Agricole S.A. Group policy, Crédit Agricole CIB has put into place a system dedicated to the prevention of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and corruption, and compliance with embargos and asset freezes. This system applies to both the central entity and affiliated units.
As a financial institution and investment services provider, Crédit Agricole CIB is subject to supervision and control by the Prudential Control Authority (ACP) and the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the French financial and banking sector regulatory authorities.
The system in place includes, on the one hand, the obligations arising from international rules and recommendations and, on the other, obligations arising under national law.
INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS
The international obligations include:
- the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted in February 1990 and revised in February 2012, aimed at preventing the use of the banking system for purposes of laundering money with criminal origins,
- the European Union directives of October 26, 2005, and August 1, 2006, aimed at harmonising the measures taken by the member states – Eur- Lex website.
NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS
The national obligations result primarily from order no. 2009-104 dated January 30, 2009, (Legifrance website) transposing into French law the principles of the abovementioned directives. They are grouped together in the Monetary and Financial Code (Title VI) and relate to:
- the adoption of a risk-based approach and its updating,
- vigilance when entering into a business relationship (identification of clients) and, during the course of a relationship, with regard to transactions that are unusually complex or have no apparent economic justification or legitimate purpose,
- documentation and archiving of information,
- avoidance of relationships or transactions for which the information obtained has not enabled their legitimacy to be established,
- the reporting of suspicions or the systematic reporting of certain transactions to TRACFIN (Financial Intelligence Unit), an organisation created by the decree of May 9, 1990, that reports to the French Ministry of Economy and Finance.
In addition, in France, money laundering is a general offense covering the proceeds of all crimes and offenses.
COMMITMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL SECURITY BUSINESS LINE
A Group directive defines the organisation and obligations of the “Financial Security” business line dedicated to the control and management of the risks relating to money laundering, the financing of terrorism, corruption, embargos and asset freezes.
This business line is an integral part of the control and compliance system put in place by the Group. It has implemented the following procedures:
- Know Your Customer (KYC),
- monitoring of payment flows in application of the rules covering embargos (e.g. Fircosoft), asset freezes and the identification of principals ordering fund transfers (SR VII),
- reporting of suspicious operations and transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit,
- the training of all employees concerned. Crédit Agricole CIB is an active participant in the preparation of AML-FT Market e-Learning programs under the direction of the Training Center for the Banking Profession (CFPB) and with the assistance of the French Banking Federation (FBF),
- verification of compliance with the measures and procedures put in place to meet the abovementioned obligations,
- documentation, archiving and storing of files, and creation of audit trails.
Within the Crédit Agricole S.A. group, the principles related to exchanges of information needed in the fight against money laundering, corruption and the financing of terrorism have been set up.
Each of the Group’s units has a Head of Financial Security responsible for implementing Group rules and complying with local obligations.
Each operating business line applies the Group’s Financial Security Directive and incorporates it into procedures adapted to its activities.
Crédit Agricole CIB continues to strengthen its organisation to fight internal and external fraud and corruption. Crédit Agricole CIB has in particular taken part in the audit to certify Crédit Agricole Group’s arsenal to fight corruption conducted during the first half of 2016 by SGS. This audit was concluded by the certification of the arsenal according to the BS 10500:2011 standard.