Decree No. (300) of 1375 FDP (2007 AD)
issuing the executive regulation of Law
The General People’s Committee:
Upon review of:
Article (1)
The executive regulation of Law No. (2) of 1373 FDP on anti-money laundering shall enter into force.
These regulations shall enter into force on the date of their issuance. They shall be implemented by the competent bodies and published in the Legal Register.
The General People’s Committee – Libya
Corresponding to 23/4/1375 FDP (2007 AD)
of Law No. (2) of 1373 FDP (2005 AD)
In the application of these Regulations and the decrees issued in the implementation of Law No. (2) of 1373 FDP on anti-money laundering, the following terms and expressions shall have the meanings set out next to each, unless indicated otherwise by the context.
The Law: Law No. (2) of 1373 FDP on anti-money laundering.
State: The Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
Central Bank: The Central Bank of Libya.
Governor: The Governor of the Central Bank of Libya.
Committee: The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee.
Main Unit: The Financial Information Unit of the Central Bank of Libya.
Branch Unit: The Financial Information Branch Unit concerned with anti-money laundering in financial institutions.
Illegal property: Property obtained from crime, directly or indirectly, whether moveable or immovable, corporeal or incorporeal, including documents evidencing ownership of such property or any interest related thereto.
Freezing, seizure, and sequestration: Temporary prohibition imposed by order of the competent body on the movement, transfer, disposition, or use of property.
Confiscation: Permanent expropriation, pursuant to a ruling issued by the competent court.
Means: Any means used, or sought to be used in any way, in committing one of the crimes set out in this Law.
Financial institutions: Financial establishments licensed to operate by the Central Bank, including any bank, financing company, financial market, exchange, financial or cash broker, and the like, as well as financial, commercial, and economic establishments licensed to operate by bodies other than the Central Bank, such as insurance companies, service firms, and the like.
Managing Director: The employee assigned by the financial institution to manage the Financial Information Branch Unit.
Oversight authorities: The bodies entrusted, pursuant to the laws and regulations, with the competency of licensing or permitting financial institutions to operate, and the bodies assigned to monitor and inspect them.
Client: A natural person or legal entity in whose name a financial institution opens an account or for whom it executes a transaction or provides services.
Beneficiary: Any natural person or legal entity with a real interest in the transaction or service set out in the preceding item, even if the transaction took place through another person, such as a guardian, representative, or the like.
A money laundering crime shall be deemed to have occurred by establishing one of the following types of conduct:
Property shall be illegal if acquired from a crime, directly or indirectly, including the crimes set out in the International Convention Against Organized Crime, the protocols appendant thereto, the International Convention Against Corruption, and other related international agreements to which the state is a party, whether such property is movable or immovable, corporeal or incorporeal, including documentation establishing ownership of such property or any asset related thereto.
The Main Unit shall work under the supervision of the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee. The Unit shall be regulated and its duties and operational procedures set out under a decree issued by the Committee, which shall include the following duties in particular:
If the public prosecution receives a direct report of suspected cases involving money laundering, it shall undertake the necessary measures and inform the Main Unit of the information it received in this regard.
All financial institutions, whether licensed to operate by the Central Bank or by another body, shall establish a branch unit called the “Financial Information Branch Unit to Combat Money Laundering.” The Governor shall issue a decree regulating the branch units and defining their duties and operational procedures.
The Financial Information Branch Unit shall watch and monitor all transactions and deals conducted in the financial institution, or those persons doing business with it that contain suspected illegal deals or money laundering, or transactions related to deposits or transfers of funds having an unknown source, and report the information related to these transactions to the Main Unit.
Reports of suspected cases involving money laundering shall be on a form set out under a decree issued by the Governor. The report form must include the following in particular:
The reports recorded in the database at the Main Unit should include the following information in particular:
Immediately upon receipt of a report of a suspicious transaction, the Main Unit shall undertake an investigation and inspection. In doing such, it may undertake the following.
If the investigation and inspection conducted by the Main Unit produce evidence of the commission of a money laundering crime, or any other related crimes, it shall notify the Governor of the available information and reports, and undertake the necessary measures with regard thereto.
Without prejudice to the competencies held by the Governor with regard to freezing accounts suspected of being related to a money laundering crime, in accordance with Article (7.1) of the Law, the Governor may ask the competent chief prosecutor to order seizure of the accounts, property, or means suspected of being related to a money laundering crime, for the period set out in Article (7.2) of the Law.
The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee
Article (13)
The Committee shall hold competence to elaborate the general policy to combat money laundering and to monitor the implementation thereof so as to ensure the achievement of its objectives. Specifically, the Committee may undertake the following:
The Committee chairman shall hold the following competencies:
The Customs Administration shall be the competent body for receiving the disclosures referred to in Article (13.9) hereof, and shall do so at all ports of entry. The form must be stamped by an official upon receipt, a stamped copy given to the traveller, and recorded in the Administration’s database. The Administration shall send a copy of this information to the Main Unit whenever requested.
Each financial institution shall establish regulations ensuring the application of the Anti-Money Laundering Law, the executive regulation thereof, and the decrees, publications, and instructions issued pursuant thereto, in accordance with the nature of the institution’s activities.
Each financial institution shall establish a special system for verifying the identity of clients and beneficiaries, whether natural persons or legal entities. Such system shall include the controls provided under Article (29) hereof, in addition to any other controls necessary in this area, as appropriate to the nature of the institution’s activities. The institution shall forward one copy of the system established in this regard to the competent oversight authority and another copy to the Main Unit.
Without prejudice to Article (7) hereof, each financial institution shall notify the Main Unit of suspected transactions involving money laundering on the approved form in accordance with the provisions hereof, and establish the rules and procedures to be adopted when making the obligatory notifications, including criteria for suspicion appropriate to the nature of its activities.
Institutions shall periodically review and update these rules, procedures, and criteria to be in line with local and international developments in anti-money laundering plans and policies.
Each financial institution shall apply the principal “know your customer” and shall not conduct any transactions of an unknown source, under fictitious or spurious names, or using secret numbers, whether related to opening, linked deposits, accepting funds for transfer, or any transaction of any kind.
Each financial institution shall keep records and documents to record the financial transactions conducted, whether locally or internationally, including sufficient data to identify these transactions, the clients and beneficiaries party thereto, and shall keep these records and documents for a period not less than five years from the date the account is closed or the date the transaction ended, as the case may be.
Each financial institution shall appoint a managing director to manage the branch unit, taking into consideration in the selection thereof that such managing director possess sufficient academic qualifications and practical experience.
Each financial institution shall define the competencies of the managing director, provided such include receiving information on suspect transactions furnished through the institution’s internal regulations or received from employees or any other body, inspection thereof, and undertaking the necessary notification measures in accordance with the provisions hereof, while observing the regulations and rules issued by the Governor in this regard.
Each financial institution shall provide the managing director with the capabilities and means enabling them to exercise their competencies, ensuring the confidentiality of the information received and the procedures undertaken thereby. In doing such, the managing director may access the records and data required to perform their duties, review the regulations and procedures established by the institution to combat money laundering and the extent of their application, propose any measures needed to remedy any deficiencies therein or renew or improve them to ensure their effectiveness and efficiency.
At least every three months, managing directors shall prepare a report on their activities, the suspicious transactions uncovered or reported, and the measures taken with regard thereto including their assessment of the anti-money laundering systems and procedures at the institution and any suggestions with regard thereto.
The managing director shall provide the Main Unit with the information requested thereby and provide it with access to records and documents while performing its investigations and inspections or to feed the database thereof.
Each financial institution shall prepare files on suspicious transactions, placing therein a copy of the notices regarding these transactions and the related data and documentation. They shall keep these files for a period of not less than five years, or until a final decision or ruling is issued on the transaction, whichever is longer.
Oversight authorities shall undertake the means required for office and field oversight in order to confirm the compliance of financial institutions subject to its oversight with the Law, the executive regulation thereof, and the oversight controls issued pursuant thereto. They shall also confirm that the provided measures are undertaken with regard to any violation of such provisions in accordance with the related laws and regulations, taking into consideration that the penalties provided by the Law do not preclude imposition of the administrative penalties set out in the laws and regulations related to such financial institutions.
Each oversight authority shall prepare a periodic report containing its anti-money laundering activities and its suggestions to improve the related plans and policies, and forward a copy thereof to the Committee.
In coordination with the Committee, each oversight authority shall establish oversight controls for the financial institutions subject thereto, with regard to anti-money laundering plans and policies. Such controls shall determine the rules that these institutions must comply with, taking into consideration the development thereof as appropriate to local and international variables.
In coordination with the Committee, each oversight authority shall undertake the means to ensure that the financial institutions subject to its oversight establish a special system to verify the identity and legal status of clients and beneficiaries, whether natural persons or legal entities, through legal means of verification. This system must observe the following controls:
Each oversight authority shall assign a part-time delegate with competence and experience in anti-money laundering affairs to manage communications with the Main Unit. The oversight authority shall notify this unit of the delegate’s name, contact information, and the alternate contact in the event of the delegate’s absence. The alternate delegate shall meet the same conditions required of the primary delegate.
The oversight authorities shall undertake all procedures and means necessary to exchange information and coordinate with the Main Unit with regard to anti-money laundering, including creating a database for the information available in this regard.
The oversight authorities shall assist the Main Unit with the investigation and inspection procedures it undertakes with regard to the notifications and reports it receives on suspected operations involving money laundering.
If, while performing its legally provided competencies, any oversight authority finds suspicion of money laundering, it shall immediately move to notify the Main Unit to enable this Unit to perform the investigation and inspection procedures and undertake any other resulting procedures. The information set out herein shall be collected in this notification.
Anti-Money Laundering Training and Qualification
Financial institutions, oversight authorities, and the Main Unit shall establish programs to implement plans to train and qualify their employees, so as to ensure that they are prepared to undertake the duties related to anti-money laundering, keep up with global developments, and establish sound professional rules of operation in this field.
The assistance of domestic and international specialized institutions shall be sought in the implementation of anti-money laundering preparation, qualification, and training programs, utilizing local and international expertise in this regard, within the framework of the general qualification and training policy elaborated by the Committee.
International Cooperation to Combat Money Laundering
The cooperation of Libyan judicial bodies with judicial bodies in other countries in the field of anti-money laundering, shall be in all of the types set out in Article (15) of the Law, in accordance with the rules provided in bilateral and multilateral agreements to which the state is a party, or in implementation of the principal of reciprocity.
The database at the Main Unit shall be supplied with a list of the bilateral and multilateral international agreements to which the state is a party related to international cooperation to combat crimes in general, and to combat money laundering in particular. This list shall include a summary of the most important provisions of these agreements, including the body identified in each cooperation agreement as the party through which such international cooperation is to take place.
The Committee shall undertake the procedures required to request issuance of an order from the competent body in any other country to track property resulting from a money laundering crime, or the means used therein, or freezing or seizure thereof, if this property or means is related to an incident falling under Libyan jurisdiction.
The Committee shall prepare the means required to enter into international cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with its counterpart bodies in other countries and international organizations, to facilitate cooperation therewith on anti-money laundering and to exchange information and expertise in this matter.
The Committee shall work to prepare the means required to enter into international agreements on the disposition of property that judicial bodies, Libyan or foreign, have ruled to confiscate in money laundering crimes, including rules on the distribution of such property among the parties to the agreement in the cases where the confiscation thereof is the result of coordination and cooperation among the parties to the agreement.
Upon the implementation of the rules related to exchanging information, and in application of the provisions of international agreements to which the state is a party or the principal of reciprocity, the requesting body shall ensure the sound use of such information, limit such use to the objective for which it was requested, and not reveal it to a third party except by prior agreement with the body that provided it.
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