FINANCIAL MONITORING IN ROMUNIA

Despite the fact that the regulation of banking activity is still carried out with the help of national legislation, there are documents adopted by the government of the European Union that contain general requirements for the regulation of the issue. To date, the latest result of the cooperation of the member states of the European Union in the field of preventing and countering the legalization (laundering) of money obtained through criminal means and the financing of terrorism is the Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on preventing the use of the financial system for the purpose of laundering money for terrorism ( with subsequent changes and additions).

Directive 2005/60/EC introduces the concept of “due diligence measures”. In essence, the concept of “measures of due diligence” is a broader category that combines the identification and financial monitoring adopted in our state. Directive 2005/60/EC establishes a requirement for financial and credit institutions to show “measures of due diligence” to customers when establishing business relations, performing random operations on current accounts in the amount of 15,000 euros or more (regardless of whether one operation or several transactions) if there are doubts about money laundering or terrorist financing, regardless of the existing restrictions and thresholds, as well as if there are doubts about the veracity or appropriateness of previously received identification data. Due diligence measures include:

• client identification;
• identification of the beneficiary, i.e. the natural person(s) who fully owns or controls the legal entity through direct or indirect ownership or control of a significant block of shares or voting rights in the legal entity, including through ownership of bearer shares (ownership 25) % + 1 share, as well as control of 25% or more of the assets of a legal entity, is considered sufficient to achieve this criterion), or persons who otherwise exercise control over the management of the client, and even take measures to verify the identity of the beneficiary;
• obtaining information about the purpose and nature of the intentions of these business relations;
• carrying out constant monitoring of business relations, including verification of transactions carried out during such relations, to determine the conformity of such transactions with information about the client, his business and the level of risk, including, if necessary, the source of funds, and confirmation that such documents, data and information is updated in a timely manner.

Bank lawyer in Romania is one of our main job profiles. Our bank lawyer will advise you on the following issues

• What amount of funds can be placed in a bank in Romania?
• What to do when the bank requested documents on the origin of funds?
• What documents confirm the origin of funds?
• Where to get documents confirming the origin of funds?
• What to do if there are not enough documents about the origin of the funds?
• How to withdraw (return) blocked funds in a Romanian bank?
• How to close a bank account?
• How to legally bypass financial monitoring in Romania?
• What to do if there is no source of funds?
• How to pass financial monitoring in a Romanian bank?

Conclusions

As of today, the limit for transferring funds to a current account in Romania for Ukrainians and other foreigners has been reduced to 15,000 euros per month.

Ukrainians can open an account in a Romanian bank using a simplified procedure.

According to local legislation, Romanian banks transfer information about their customers’ transactions of €15,000 and above to the relevant state.

In addition, if the bank considers some transactions to be dubious, it may ask the client to provide additional documents confirming the purpose of the transaction or the source of the funds. That is why it is very important not just to transfer cash to Romania, but to prepare in advance documents certifying the origin of the funds, a customs declaration on crossing the border with cash, etc.

That is why we recommend our clients to be cautious and contact the lawyers of Prykhodko and Partners for advice on financial monitoring in Romania.