Support for reporting entities in order to submit high-quality disclosures

This is a list of the main criteria that CTIF-CFI uses to assess the general quality of a disclosures¹, aimed at helping reporting entities improve the quality of their disclosures, which should also affect the effectiveness of CTIF-CFI’s analytical process.

The quality of a disclosure refers to criteria related to content as well as to its form, the latter may also include more technical aspects.

1. The disclosure is submitted via the online reporting system (possibly via web service) or via the online disclosure form available on CTIF-CFI’s website.

2. The disclosure is clear and complete

1. the different elements of the disclosure are all present (if applicable)
2. these are listed in the ad hoc sections of the disclosure
3. the annexes of the disclosure contain all the documents that are useful for the analysis (a copy of the identity documents of customers who are natural persons and whose identity details cannot be checked in the National Register, the articles of association of foreign companies, account history in compliance with the uniform bank statement, supporting documents, judicial orders,…)

3. Where applicable, it is explicitly mentioned that the disclosure complements a previous disclosure by the reporting entity and states CTIF-CFI’s reference given to the initial disclosure.

4. The identification of customers, agents and/or beneficial owners is correct and complete

1. it includes as much identification data as possible and at least the data required by the Law of 18 September 2017
2. it complies with the data structure required for certain specific fields of the online disclosure (number of the National Register, business number, IBAN account number and nationality of the person involved)
3. the identification data of the agents and beneficial owners are mentioned in the ad hoc sections of the disclosure, i.e. CTIF-CFI does not have to look for this data in the annexes
4. the information on the line of business of customers is precise enough to determine the activity they actually carry out.

5. The description of the suspicious transactions/facts is clear and precise

1. the transactions/facts considered to be suspicious are clearly stated in the ad hoc section of the disclosure and mention the period and the total volume of the suspicious transactions as well as the main countries of origin and countries of destination of the funds
2. in case of an online disclosure the suspicious transactions are listed in the structured table provided for this purpose (at least when there are not too many)
3. the description of the suspicious transactions reflects the reported facts
4. if the disclosure features a series of customers who carried out suspicious transactions, the link between them is explained clearly so CTIF-CFI can identify the main individual(s) on whom to focus its analysis.

6. The disclosure is based on subjective elements from a genuine analysis

1. the red flags that have led to the disclosure are clearly stated
2. where applicable it is explicitly stated that the customer was questioned on the suspicious transactions/facts but that the customer did not want to reply or gave incomplete or unsatisfactory answers
3. this information is in the ad hoc section of the disclosure regarding the indications of money laundering and terrorist financing (i.e. separately from the information related to the description of the suspicious transactions/facts).

7. The disclosure takes place within a reasonable period of time.

Moreover, reporting entities must also comply with the guidelines issued by CTIF-CFI, i.e.

the guidelines for reporting entities: these provide the necessary assistance for reporting entities to comply with the obligation to disclose as a result of the Law of 18 September 2017 (these guidelines are available on CTIF-CFI’s website in French and Dutch);
(technical) guidelines on certain specific topics, including the use of certain keywords (available on CTIF-CFI’s website soon).

^[1] CTIF-CFI does not have the exclusive power to determine these criteria.

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FATF evaluation

During its plenary meeting in Paris on 26 February 2015 the FATF approved the report on the fourth mutual evaluation of the Belgian system for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). The evaluation was based on the FATF 40 recommendations, as revised in 2012, and the 2013 methodology for assessing compliance with the FATF 40 recommendations.

The evaluation was led by a team of evaluators consisting of three members of the Secretariat and four experts in criminal law, financial law and operational issues from other FATF countries.

This team visited Belgium from 30 June to 15 July 2015. During this visit they met with officials and representatives from all competent national authorities and the private sector. They examined the institutional framework, legislation, regulations, directives, and other guidelines regarding the AML/CFT system, as well as the measures taken by the financial institutions and non-financial companies and professions to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Special attention was paid to the application and the effectiveness of these measures.

The FATF issued recommendations to take measures in order to improve some aspects of the system.

Since 2015 Belgium has made important progress in strengthening its framework to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.

On 3 September 2018, the FATF published the third follow-up report of Belgium in which the rating of 15 of the 40 Recommendations was upgraded.

This report analyses Belgium’s measures taken in addressing the technical compliance deficiencies identified in the mutual evaluation report of 2015 and to comply with the FATF recommendations.

Annual reports

Preface by the Director of the Financial Processing Unit CTIF-CFI

Mr Philippe de KOSTER

After having been affected for two years and a half by the COVID-19 health crisis, we are now facing a war on Europe’s doorstep. The very least we can say is that we are living in a world that is becoming increasingly uncertain.

Despite all of this, the mechanisms for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing have worked and the results presented in this annual report 2021 prove this.

Upon the publication of this report I would again like to thank all members of staff, the liaison officers and all our preferential partners (judicial authorities, federal police, FPS Economy,…) for the work they did in 2021, often in difficult circumstances including working from home orders and minimal presence at the office. Especially since the number of disclosures continued to rise sharply in 2021. CTIF-CFI received a record number of 46.330 disclosures, which is an increase of almost 50 % compared to 2020.

Several British payment institutions set up a company in Belgium in order to operate under the freedom to provide services, which may explain a large part of this increase. Awareness of the financial sector and “lookback” operations requested by the National Bank definitely also provide an explanation for this rise.

Given that CTIF-CFI receives such disclosures, it must constantly find a balance between “looking back at the past” and finding a more effective way of approaching money laundering aimed at the future and new money laundering risks such as those linked to the use of cryptocurrencies.

Tools for prioritising and orientating disclosures, which have been used by CTIF-CFI for a number of years and are constantly being improved, have enabled us to deal with this massive surge in new disclosures, without having to secure additional financial resources at present.

1.241 new files were disseminated to the Belgian judicial authorities. A thousand notifications of useful information were sent to administrative authorities of the State (the unit Antifraud Coordination CAF, the Social Intelligence and Investigation Service SIRS-SIOD, FPS Economy, etc.) and to the supervisory authorities in accordance with Articles 83 and 121 of the Law of 18 September 2017.

The IT tools developed by FIU.Net and by CTIF-CFI have also made it possible to disseminate 8.021 XBR (Cross-Border Reports) and 613 XBD (Cross-Border Dissemination Reports) regarding transactions involving another European Member State (cf. Section V.4.).

In accordance with the fourth AML/CFT Directive, when CTIF-CFI receives a disclosure regarding another country, it shall send for analysis, all relevant information in the disclosure to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the country in question. These notifications do not replace the current procedure of information exchange upon request or spontaneous exchange, however, which is usually carried out during or at the end of the analysis of a file, but completes this procedure.

Generally speaking some 15.000 items of intelligence received by CTIF-CFI from reporting entities are disseminated to external parties in one way or another, either to the judicial authorities, administrative services of the State, intelligence services (including OCAM-OCAD), AML/CFT supervisory authorities and counterpart FIUs. The information that cannot be disseminated to external parties forms an essential base, which can be used for the purposes of strategic analysis, but also for a potential dissemination in the future if any serious indications of money laundering or terrorist financing would subsequently be identified.

Although there is little change in criminal phenomena and money laundering and terrorist financing techniques, there is growing evidence that the laundered funds are the proceeds of polycriminal activities. Over the past year, a large number of cases have shown how social fraud, serious fiscal fraud and organised crime increasingly feature as interrelated issues.

CTIF-CFI has also identified an increased professionalization of money laundering as such and works tirelessly to raise awareness of this issue among its partners as well as the risks of such an evolution for the rule of law and society as a whole.

Extremely well-structured organisations that operate internationally provide their “money laundering services” to various other high-level criminal organisations involved in various illegal activities (drug trafficking, gangsters, human traffickers, international fraudsters, etc.) that generate huge profits (mainly in cash). Alarmingly, CTIF-CFI has found that these money laundering networks have anchored part of their activities in Belgium, by using a very large number of bank accounts, front companies and front men.

Finally, I would like to stress the efforts made and the significant resources put in place in 2021 by the European Commission (DG FISMA) to ensure the transfer of the secure communication system for European FIUs, FIU.Net, from Europol to the European Commission’s infrastructure, while maintaining the decentralised nature of the system as was the case in the past. This transfer was the start of the development of a modernised FIU.Net, in order to increase the effectiveness of the tools for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and to adapt them to new threats.

The new “AML package” was announced by DG FISMA in June 2021 and subsequently discussed at Council level and this package is now starting to take shape. The main aim is to improve the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing through preventive measures applicable in a uniform manner in all Member States. It will include the creation of an Anti-money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will of course involve European FIUs.

The AML Package will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the preventive AML/CFT framework, but also on the organisation and future architecture of the system for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in Belgium.

That is why I have asked the Director-General of DG FISMA, Mr John Berrigan, to contribute to CTIF-CFI’s annual report of 2021. I thank him for accepting this request.

I hope you enjoy reading the report.

Philippe de KOSTER

Director

Key figures

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Number of disclosures	27.264	31.080	33.445	25.991	31.605
Number of files (*)	8.360	10.646	15.670	13.796	21.805
Number of files reported to the Public Prosecutor	831	1.192	933	1.065	1.228
Amounts involved in the files reported to the Public Prosecutor (in million EUR)	1.285,68	1.415,95	1.700,89	1.538,83	1.885,31

(*) Many disclosures refer to distinct transactions related to one case. In addition, several disclosures from one particular disclosing entity may refer to just one single case. Furthermore, one single case may aggregate disclosures made by several institutions. CTIF-CFI regroups such disclosures into one file.