Introduction
As part of its business, the company operating elibraX in Costa Rica (hereinafter referred to as "the Company") provides services related to virtual assets (crypto assets).
The Company adopts this binding document, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Compliance Policy, which sets the standards the Company must follow to reduce, and wherever possible fully eliminate, illegal activity while it serves its customers. To reach this goal, the Company gives priority to putting in place and following the FATF Standards for virtual assets.
The most important preventive measures the Company applies are: customer due diligence (CDD), record keeping, and the monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions and activities (STR).
To prevent fraud, the Company monitors customer activity on its platform, using many automated mechanisms and IT tools together with manual reviews.
By following best practice in its internal controls, the Company helps show that virtual asset technologies and businesses can keep growing and innovating responsibly, which in turn supports a level playing field for everyone.
The Company also applies the sanctions imposed by the Republic of Costa Rica on a wide range of individuals and legal entities. This means it checks on an ongoing basis whether a customer is subject to international sanctions, and follows the other procedures described in its internal binding documents.
Customer Due Diligence (CDD)
- The Company applies customer due diligence measures to its customers, business relationships and transactions, and monitors business relationships on an ongoing basis.
- To establish who its customers are, the Company must collect enough data, documents and information from each customer or prospective customer and verify them against independent sources. Customers the Company considers higher risk may be reviewed in more depth, which can mean requests for additional information and a longer verification time. The Company reserves the right to verify a customer's identity again whenever it considers this appropriate, and in that case may request additional or updated data, documents and information.
Enhanced customer due diligence (EDD)
- On a risk sensitive basis, the Company applies enhanced customer due diligence measures and enhanced ongoing monitoring in any situation that by its nature carries a higher risk of money laundering, terrorist financing or other criminal activity, based on the national risk assessment.
- In proportion to the risk, the Company applies enhanced customer due diligence measures and enhanced ongoing monitoring to business relationships and transactions with individuals and legal entities from countries that do not apply, or do not fully apply, the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.
- Enhanced due diligence when monitoring a business relationship includes, among other things, closer monitoring through more frequent and more numerous verification measures, and choosing the transaction indicators that will be checked in addition.
Record keeping
- Data and documents related to a business relationship are archived.
- All records are kept for at least five (5) years from the date:
- of the event concerned;
- of any transaction or correspondence relating to a customer;
- on which evidence of a person's identity was obtained;
- on which the business relationship ended, in the case of an ongoing business relationship.
- Records do not need to be kept on paper. They may be kept as original documents or as copies in any machine readable or electronic form from which a paper copy can easily be produced.
Suspicious transactions/activities monitoring and reporting (STR)
- The Company monitors (checks) each business relationship on an ongoing basis.
- Ongoing monitoring of a business relationship means:
- (a) reviewing the transactions carried out during the relationship to make sure they match what the Company knows about the customer, the customer's business and risk profile and the source of the customer's funds; and
- (b) keeping the documents, data and information obtained for customer due diligence up to date.
- In line with its AML Policy and the applicable laws, the Company reports to the competent authorities, when needed, any activity that may be considered money laundering or terrorist financing. The Company will not disclose that such a report has been made and will not answer any questions about it.
- The obligation to report suspicious transactions applies to every type of transaction and activity.
Sanctions and PEP monitoring
- The Company must not:
- enter into transactions with parties subject to sanctions;
- enter into transactions whose execution would breach the sanctions;
- carry out any action that the sanctions prohibit.
- A Compliance Officer is responsible for organising the implementation of sanctions in line with the law of the Republic of Costa Rica.
- The Company implements sanctions using sanctions screening tools that automatically scan the names of customers in the system for possible matches.
- The first sanctions screening is part of customer due diligence. When identifying a customer, the Company uses the sanctions screening tools to check whether sanctions apply to the customer, the customer's representatives, related persons and beneficial owner(s).
- Before each transaction, the Company checks that the transaction is not covered by sectoral sanctions.
- During the business relationship, the Company carries out sanctions screening:
- when it learns that information about the customer, the customer's representative, related persons or beneficial owner(s) has changed (for example, the customer's name, surname or legal name, representative or beneficial owner(s) has changed);
- when a customer updates their due diligence information;
- when the laws setting sanctions requirements change;
- before each transaction;
- regularly, on an ongoing basis.
Risk assessment
- The Company takes measures to identify, assess, understand and monitor its money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) risks, and takes appropriate steps to reduce the risks it identifies.
- Before launching a new product or business practice, or using a new or developing technology, the Company identifies and assesses the ML and TF risks that may arise from developing and using those new products, practices or technologies, for both new and existing products, and takes appropriate steps to manage and reduce those risks.
- The Company documents the results of its risk assessment and updates them regularly.