As enacted

Contents

18. Amendment of section 15 of the principal enactment

Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.

Section 15 of the principal enactment is hereby amended as follows: -

(1)

in subsection (1) of that section -

(a)

in paragraph (b) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “shall collect or require the supervisory authority of a financial institution to collect any information”, of the words “shall obtain or require the supervisory authority of an Institution to obtain any information”;

(b)

in paragraph (c) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “law enforcement agency and supervisory agency for the purposes of this Act;”, of the words “law enforcement agency, supervisory authority or any person whom the Head of the Financial

The Head and the staff of the Financial

Intelligence

Unit deemed to be public servants.

Financial Transactions Reporting

Intelligence Unit may deem relevant, for the purposes of this Act;”;

(c)

by the insertion immediately after paragraph (d) of that subsection, of the following new paragraph: -

“(da) shall conduct operational and strategic analysis;”;

(d)

in paragraph (e) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words and figures “in section 18;”, of the words and figures

“in section 18 and may share findings of such examinations with the supervisory, regulatory, licensing or registration authority of such Institution;”;

(e)

by the insertion immediately after paragraph (e) of that subsection, of the following new paragraph: -

“(ea) may carry out risk-based supervision of Institutions referred to in subsection (2) of section 23;”;

(f)

by the insertion immediately after paragraph (f) of that subsection, of the following new paragraphs: -

“(fa) may refer any matter or information derived from any report or information it receives to the appropriate supervisory authority or self-regulatory authority;

(fb)

may upon request, disseminate information or financial intelligence or both, derived from any report or information it receives or that are in its possession, to any law enforcement agency conducting investigations relating to money laundering, terrorist financing, financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or any associated unlawful activity;”;

(g)

in paragraph (g) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “shall destroy”

and “further activity”, of the words “may destroy” and “further suspicious activity”, respectively;

(h)

in paragraph (h) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “shall instruct or”, of the words “may instruct an Institution or”;

(i)

by the repeal of paragraph (j) of that subsection, and the substitution therefor, of the following paragraph: -

“(j) may, subject to the rules issued under section 29a and directions, circulars or guidelines issued under section 29b, facilitate the issuance of, or have the supervisory authority of an Institution to issue, directions, circulars or guidelines to Institutions in relation to customer identification, record keeping, reporting obligations, identification of

Financial Transactions Reporting suspicious transactions, suspension of transactions, risk-based approach and such other matters for the effective implementation of the provisions of this Act;”;

(j)

by the insertion immediately after paragraph (m) of that subsection, of the following new paragraph: -

“(ma) may conduct, provide or facilitate training programmes for the staff of the Financial Intelligence Unit as may be necessary to enhance their knowledge and skills in detecting and preventing money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and in other areas recommended by the Financial Action Task Force;”;

(k)

by the repeal of paragraph (o) of that subsection, and the substitution therefor, of the following paragraph: -

“(o) may conduct research, reviews or assessments into risks, trends, methods, developments and typologies in the areas of money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or any other area in line with the recommendations of the Financial

Action Task Force and improved ways of detecting, preventing and deterring money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;”;

(l)

by the insertion immediately after paragraph (o) of that subsection, of the following new paragraph: -

“(oa) may obtain any information from any Institution which the Financial

Intelligence

Unit considers relevant for any research, review or assessment;”;

(m)

in paragraph (p) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “money laundering and the financing of terrorism;”, of the words

“money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;”;

(n)

by the insertion immediately after paragraph (p) of that subsection, of the following new paragraph: -

“(pa) may provide training for law enforcement agencies, competent authorities or prosecutors on matters relating to money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;”;

(o)

by the repeal of paragraph (q) of that subsection, and the substitution therefor, of the following paragraph: -

Financial Transactions Reporting

“(q) may disclose or exchange as set out in sections 16 and 17, any report, any information derived from such report or any other information it receives, if on the basis of its analysis or assessment, the Financial Intelligence Unit has reasonable grounds to suspect that such report or information would be relevant to the investigation or prosecution of any act constituting an unlawful activity, or the offence of money laundering, terrorist financing or financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or any supervisory finding based on any examination carried out under section 18 or 23;”;

(p)

by the repeal of paragraph (r) of that subsection, and the substitution therefor, of the following paragraph: -

“(r) may enter into any agreement or arrangement with any domestic or international government institution or agency, or other entity regarding the exchange of information, joint supervision and any other matter relating to combating money laundering, terrorist financing or financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and”; and

(q)

by the addition immediately after paragraph (r) of that subsection, of the following new paragraph: -

“(s) shall publish an annual report on the performance of the Financial

Intelligence Unit during the year, which shall be submitted to the

Minister.”;

(2)

in subsection (2) of that section –

(a)

by the substitution for the words “has reasonable grounds to suspect that a transaction or attempted transaction may-”, of the words “has reasonable grounds to suspect that a transaction, an attempted transaction or an account associated with a transaction or an attempted transaction maintained by any person may-”;

(b)

in paragraph (b) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “the Money

Laundering Act,”, of the words “the

Prevention of Money Laundering Act,”;

(c)

in paragraph (c) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words and figures “Act,

No. 25 of 2005,”, of the words and figures

“Act, No. 25 of 2005; or”;

(d)

by the addition immediately after paragraph (c) of that subsection, of the following new paragraph: -

Financial Transactions Reporting

“(d) be connected to the commission of the offence of financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,”;

(e)

by the substitution for all the words from

“it may direct the Institution” to the words

“seven days,”, of the words “it may direct the Institution in writing or by telephone to be confirmed in writing within twenty-four hours to suspend or not to proceed with the carrying out of that transaction or attempted transaction or any other transaction in respect of the funds affected by that transaction or attempted transaction or the account associated with such transaction or attempted transaction or other transaction for a period to be determined by the Financial Intelligence

Unit, which may not be more than fourteen working days,”;

(f)

in sub-paragraph (i) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “the transaction or attempted transaction; and”, of the words

“such transaction, attempted transaction, other transaction or account; and”;

(g)

in sub-paragraph (ii) of that subsection, by the substitution for the words “in the inquiries.”, of the following: -

“in the inquiries:”; and

(h)

by the addition immediately after that subsection, of the following proviso: -

“Provided however, there shall be credited to such account any receipts accrued to such account and there shall be paid out of such account any tax on the interest earned, if any.”;

(3)

in subsection (3) of that section, by the substitution for the words “for such application.”, of the following: -

“for such application, and the proceedings pertaining to the same shall be held in camera:

Provided however, where an indictment is filed for the offence of money laundering, terrorist financing or financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in respect of a transaction, attempted transaction or an account associated with a transaction or an attempted transaction maintained by any person in respect of which an order under this subsection is made, such order shall, unless vacated by the Court for reasons to be recorded, remain in force until the conclusion of the trial in respect of such offence, or where an appeal is preferred against a conviction for such offence, until the determination of the appeal.”; and

(4)

by the repeal of the marginal note to that section and the substitution therefor, of the following marginal note: -

“Powers, duties and functions of the

Financial Intelligence Unit.”.

Financial Transactions Reporting

Read on from s 19