By KYIV. May 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – On Wednesday, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Verkhovna Rada draft law No. 9269 amending the legislation on financial monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEP) in order to restore a number of norms that were canceled last year, but taking into account a risk-based approach.
“This is one of the requirements of the IMF: structural May No. 14, the deadline is until the end of September this year. I would say the most problematic item of all. Since the ‘eternal’ PEP caused a lot of negativity among MPs, and therefore they voted for an amendment to limit financial monitoring for only three years,” Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of the Holos faction, commented on the introduction of the bill on Telegram on Wednesday.
According to him, the new bill cancels the rule on limiting PEP financial monitoring to three years. “They are returning to ‘eternal,’ but with a risk-oriented approach,” the MP explained.
Zheleznyak noted that the document, along with the obligation to the subject of primary financial monitoring to ensure the proper application of a risk-based approach to PEP and related parties in order to assign a reasonable level of risk, also requires excluding unreasonable refusal to conduct financial transactions and/or establishment (continuation) of business relations.
In addition, it is proposed to specify that the subject of primary financial monitoring, after due diligence, may exempt PEP from excessive financial monitoring if more than 12 months have passed since PEP ceased to perform public functions and if the risk associated with PEP is no longer present.
Earlier it was indicated that the adoption of this bill is also one of the points of recommendations for joining the EU.
