Entire Section | SAMA Rulebook

Article 5
Financial Institutions (FIs), Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs)shall identify, assess, and document their money laundering risks and keep it up to date, taking into account a wide range of risk factors, including those relating to its customers, countries or geographic areas, products, services, transactions and delivery channels, and provide risk assessment reports to the supervisory authorities upon request. The risk assessment under this Article shall include an assessment, prior to their use, of the risks associated with new products, business practices and technologies.

Article 6
A financial institution shall not keep or open an anonymous accounts or an accounts in obviously fictitious names, or numbered accounts.

Article 7

FIs and DNFBPs shall:
	1-	Apply due diligence measures to their customers and the Implementing Regulation shall set forth the instances in which such measures shall be taken and the types of measures to be taken.
	2-	Determine the extent of due diligence measures based on the risks relation to a customer or business relationship. Where a higher risk of money laundering was identified, they shall apply enhanced due diligence measures.

Article 8
FIs and DNFBPs shall use appropriate systems to determine whether a customer or beneficial owner is or has become assignee with a prominent public function in the Kingdom or a foreign country; or with a senior management position in an international organization and if so, apply additional measures as prescribed by the Implementing Regulation.

	1-	Before entering into a cross-border correspondent relationship, financial institutions shall apply appropriate risk mitigation measures as prescribed by the Implementing Regulation, and shall satisfy themselves that the respondent institution does not permit their account to be used by a shell bank.
	2-	Financial institutions shall not enter into or continue a correspondent relationships with a shell bank or a respondent institution that permits its account to be used by a shell bank.

	1-	Financial institutions provide wire transfer activities shall obtain information on the originator and beneficiary and ensure that such information is kept with the wire transfer or related message throughout the payment chain. A financial institution that is unable to obtain required originator or beneficiary information shall not permit the execution of the wire transfer.
	2-	A financial institution shall record all originator and beneficiary information and keep the records, documents, data, and files in accordance with Article 12.
	3-	A financial institution shall comply with all measures on wire transfers as set out in the Implementing Regulation.

	1-	FIs and DNFBPs shall apply enhanced due diligence measures proportionate to the risks involving business relationships and transactions with a person from a country that was identified as high risk by the FI or DNFBP or the Anti-Money Laundering Permanent Committee.
	2-	FIs and DNFBPs shall apply the countermeasures prescribed by the Anti-Money Laundering Permanent Committee with respect to high risk countries.

	1-	FIs and DNFBPs shall, for all domestic or international financial transactions as well as commercial and monetary transactions, keep all records and documents for a period of no less than ten years from the date of concluding the transaction or closure of account.
	2-	FIs and DNFBPs shall keep all records obtained through due diligence measures, account files and business correspondences and copies of personal identification documents, including the results of any analysis undertaken, for at least ten years after the business relationship has ended or a transaction was carried out for a customer is not in an established business relationship.
	3-	In specific cases, the Public Prosecution may oblige FIs and DNFBPs to extend the record keeping period for as long as required for the purpose of a criminal investigation or prosecution.
	4-	Records shall be sufficient to permit reconstruction of transactions and shall be maintained in a manner so that they can be readily made available to competent authorities upon request.

FIs and DNFBPs shall:
	1-	Monitor and scrutinize transactions, document and data on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are consistent with the reporting entity’s knowledge of the customer, the customer’s commercial activities and risk profile, and where necessary the customer's source of funds.
	2-	Examine any complex and unusual large transaction, and any unusual pattern of transactions that has no clear economic or legal objective.
	3-	Where the risks of money laundering are higher, the FI and DNFBP shall perform enhanced due diligence where the ML/TF risks are higher and increase the level and nature of monitoring of the relevant business relationship to determine whether the transaction is unusual or suspicious.
	4-	Keep records for a period of ten years and make them available to competent authorities upon request.

1-	FIs and DNFBPs shall:
	A-	Have in place and effectively implement internal policies, procedures and controls against money laundering aimed at managing and mitigating any risks identified as clarified in Article 5. The policies, procedures and controls shall be proportionate to the nature and size of the FI and DNFBP’s business and shall be approved by senior management. FI and DNFBP shall review and enhance them as needed.
	B-	Apply its internal policies, procedures and controls said in (A) of this Article, to all of its branches and majority-owned subsidiaries.
2-	The Implementing Regulation shall specify the matters that must be addressed in the internal policies, procedures and controls under (1/A) in this Article for Anti-Money Laundering.

FIs, DNFBPs, and NPOs including the attorneys and any person providing legal or accounting type services, that suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that funds or parts thereof, regardless of their amounts, are proceeds of crime or are related to money laundering or that such funds will be used in acts of money laundering, including attempts to initiate such a transaction, shall Promptly and directly take the following measures:
	1-	Report such transaction to the General Directorate of Financial Intelligence; and provide a detailed report including all available data and information on such transaction and relevant parties.
	2-	Promptly and fully respond to requests from the Directorate for additional information.

	1-	FIs, DNFBPs, and NPOs as well as their Members of Board of Directors, directors, Members of its executive or supervisory management, and employees are prohibited from disclosing to a customer or any other person the fact that a report under this Law or related information will be, is being or has been submitted to the Directorate, or that a criminal investigation is being or has been carried out. This shall not preclude disclosures or communications between directors and employees or communications with lawyers or competent authorities.
	2-	FIs, DNFBPs, and NPOs as well as their Members of Board of Directors, directors, Members of its executive or supervisory management, and employees shall be protected from any liability toward the reported if they report their suspicions to the Directorate in good faith.