The aim of the Wwft is to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing, in order to safeguard the integrity of the financial markets. Money laundering means making illegally obtained assets appear legitimate, so that their illegal origin is no longer visible. Tax fraud also counts as money laundering. Terrorist financing occurs when assets are used to make terrorist activities possible.
Specific Wwft guidelines for law firms
Law firms must have Wwft guidelines in place. The main requirements are carrying out client due diligence, which goes further than identification alone, and reporting unusual transactions. Lawyers are also expected to have a documented process description for risk assessments, which are reported and kept up to date. In addition, the firm must appoint an independent compliance officer.
Client due diligence
Law firms must make their own assessment of the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. To do so, you carry out client due diligence. A key part of this is establishing and verifying the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner: Know Your Customer (KYC). If your clients act on behalf of a legal entity, you also identify the UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner). Based on a prior risk assessment, you decide whether enhanced due diligence is required.
Risk assessment
You carry out risk assessments and take measures based on the risk profiles. This forms part of the firm’s compliance risk management. You must have records or a system in which the assessments are traceable and reproducible, in line with the supervisory authorities’ guidelines. You provide this assessment at the request of the Bureau Financieel Toezicht (BFT, Financial Supervision Office).
Reporting unusual transactions
The Wwft requires lawyers to report unusual transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit Netherlands (FIU-Nederland). If you wish to carry out a transaction yourself, you first check whether this is permitted under the Sanctiewet (Dutch Sanctions Act). The Deken (Dean of the Bar) supervises compliance. Breaches can lead to an instruction, an order subject to a penalty, an administrative fine or a disciplinary measure.
Comply with the Wwft with ease
With our compliance-as-a-service solution, you have access in a secure online environment to tools that help you do this. Through Privacy Direct you can also use the SCOPE CDD On Demand software for a thorough and traceable CDD check on six points, from PEP and sanctions lists to insolvency. Privacy Direct clients receive a 10% discount.
Bring in a compliance officer
Is an internal compliance function unattractive because of the size or nature of your activities? Then outsource it with Compliance Officer as a Service. We support you from Wwft guidelines to an independent compliance officer, for a fixed monthly fee.