Rs2m or more cash transactions: FMU directs Reporting Entities to file CTRs

ISLAMABAD: The Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) has directed the Reporting Entities (REs) including financial institutions and real estate agents, jewellers, lawyers/accountants, trusts and company service providers to report cash transactions of Rs2 million or above through the Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs).

The FMU has issued guidelines on filing of Currency Transaction Reports for the Reporting Entities including designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) covering real estate agents, including builders and real estate developers.

The FMU clarified that the Currency Transaction Report or CTR means report on cash transaction exceeding such amount as may be specified by the National Executive Committee by notification in the official gazette. Threshold for reporting currency transaction report is Rs2 million or above. It is mandatory for the reporting entities to report only those cash transactions as CTR meeting the notified threshold.

According to the FMU, in terms of Section 7 of Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, FMU prescribes the manners for filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for the reporting entities. In this context, the FMU has successfully implemented automated reporting system i.e. goAML and all the reporting entities have been reporting CTRs electronically through the goAML application since January 01, 2020.

In order to streamline the process of reporting and to improve the quality of CTR reporting on goAML, detailed guidelines are being issued to the reporting entities.

The compliance of these guidelines must be ensured by all the reporting entities, the FMU stated.

In order to develop a quality financial intelligence report, it is imperative that complete, accurate and updated information is provided in the CTRs filed by REs.

The objective of these guidelines is to improve the quality of the CTRs being submitted to FMU by providing guidance to the REs related to reporting of CTRs.

These guidelines are being issued pursuant to Section 7 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 applicable to the Res, which includes financial institutions and DNFBPs.

To facilitate CTRs reporting, CTRs have been categorised in two types: (I) CTR (To be reported by all Financial Institutions and DNFBPs involving a cash transaction of Rs2 million or above) and (II) Currency Transaction Report-Aggregate - CTR-A (To be reported by Exchange Companies only for transactions involving multiple currencies aggregating Rs2 million or above).

Only those cash transactions are required to be filed as CTR, which meet the threshold of Rs2 million and above.

The reporting entities shall not report account to account transactions, account to entity transactions and entity to account transactions as CTR in goAML, the FMU directive said.

While reporting an account having multiple signatories in a cash transaction, it is mandatory to provide the details of all signatories along with their necessary information, the FMU added.

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