The prevention of money laundering aims to prevent and prevent the use of the financial system to launder capital that comes from participation in criminal acts, or in other words, it tries to prevent the black money laundering, as it supposes the end Of a series of previous criminal acts, by means of which this black money is sought to pass to the legal economic flow, for which true legal-economic engineering is used.

At Community level, it is worth highlighting the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 10 March 2016 C235 / 14, Room 5, interpreting Directive 2005/60, under which States must require persons And entities subject to this Directive which, on the basis of a risk analysis, implement enhanced due diligence measures with regard to the customer, and in particular in situations which by their nature may present a higher risk of money laundering or terrorism.

As set out in recital 5 of the above-mentioned Directive, any measures taken in this area should be compatible with those undertaken in other international fora, in particular to follow the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, which is the The main body in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

In Spain this prevention and surveillance corresponds to the SEPBLAC, being aided in its prevention task through the banking entities, and we must take into account that two types of communications have to be differentiated:

1.- Communication by indication: When in a transaction the bank believes that there is an indication that it is or may be related to money laundering or terrorist financing, it should send this type of communication to the Executive Service, article 26 RD 304/2014.

2.- Systematic communication: It is regulated in article 27 of RD 304/2014, will be obliged to make this type of monthly communication to the Executive Service.

However, it is not permissible to accept conduct that infringes competition, and must be very cautious in the interpretation and application of Community and national rules for the prevention of money laundering or terrorist financing, otherwise we might face an act As there is a fine line between unfair competition and the rules on the prevention of money laundering.

The cited ECJ Judgment is attached Here.

Alberto Agudelo Ospina

Lawyer