CTF
Poland actively acts to combat terrorist financing and money laundering. The legal basis for the fight against terrorist financing is the Act of 1 March 2018 on counteracting money laundering and terrorist financing (the "Act"). The Act implements Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC.
Countering Terrorist Financing (CTF) is a mutual effort from the financial institutions and the General Inspector of Financial Information (GIIF), who plays a crucial part in the system of counteracting financial offences and terrorism financing.
Poland participates in the work of MONEYVAL and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units - the international organisations which set forth the framework for counteracting terrorism financing efficiently. During their summits, the participants share their experience and knowledge on an international level and on the basis of identified trends regarding terrorism financing work on perfecting the methods of detecting criminal activity.
A priority for the financial institutions is to follow the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - the FATF 40 Recommendations regarding financial offences and the FATF 9 Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing.
Based on the regulations of the Act, having identified a transaction which signifies terrorism financing, we are entitled to apply the procedure of transaction withholding or blocking an account. Towards those who are subjects to sanctions, the procedure of freezing the assets accumulated in their accounts is introduced. The implementation of these procedures is conducted with the cooperation of the General Inspector of Financial Information, who, by acting through the Financial Information Department in the Ministry of Finance, gathers evidence and notifies the prosecution. Along with the law enforcement, the prosecution takes action aimed at presenting an indictment against the suspects.