The UIFAND (Financial Intelligence Unit of Andorra) is the competent body entrusted to launch and coordinate the measures for the detection, prevention of and the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Its description, competencies and functions are defined in chapter X of Law 14/2017, of June 22, on the prevention and fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Background
The Financial Intelligence Unit of Andorra began its activity on July 24th, 2001 under the name "Unitat de Prevenció del Blanqueig” (UPB - Money Laundering Prevention Unit), subsequent to the approval by the General Council on December 29 of 2000 of the Law on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters and the Fight Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
The Unit changed its name to “UIF” (“Unitat d’Intel·ligència Financera” - Financial Intelligence Unit) with the entry into force of Law 28/2008, of December 11th, amending the Law on International Criminal Cooperation and the Fight against the Laundering of Money or Securities Deriving from International Delinquency, dated December 29th, 2000.
Finally, the acronym was changed to "UIFAND", with the entry into force of Law 2/2015, of December 29th, of modification of the Law of International Criminal Cooperation and the Fight against the Laundering of Money or Securities Deriving from International Delinquency, in order to place the Andorran organization in the international arena.
Functions
The UIFAND has the following functions of instruction, decision and proposition:
| a. | Directs and promotes the activities for the detection, prevention of and fight against the use of the entities of the financial system of the country or those of some other nature for money laundering, terrorist financing or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. To this effect, the UIFAND may issue technical communiqués, which are made available to the general public through its website, in order to develop this Law and the regulations developing it, which are of compulsory compliance, and the recommendations and guidelines which it deems appropriate. Likewise, the UIFAND provides to reporting entities with appropriate information about the formalities required to submit a suspicious transaction report in the terms established in this Law. In this regard, the UIFAND shall approve a model report and guidelines about its use. |
| b. | Requests any information or documents from the reporting entities in the exercise of its functions, and it verifies compliance with this Law and the regulations developing it; |
| c. | Carries out on-site inspections to verify compliance with this Law and the regulations developing it and, in particular, analyses the specific dossiers and files which UIFAND may determine; |
| d. | Requests from and sends to the judicial authorities, the Department of Police, the Customs Service or any other body of the Administration, any information that is essential for the exercise of its functions; |
| e. | Gathers, assembles and analyses the reports of the reporting entities, and all the written or oral communications received, and it makes an assessment of the facts; |
| f. | conducts operational analysis which focuses on individual cases and specific targets or on appropriate selected information, depending on the type and volume of the disclosures received and the expected use of the information after dissemination; |
| g. | Conducts strategic analysis addressing money laundering and terrorist financing trends and patterns; |
| h. | Orders the suspension of the transactions which it deems appropriate when it considers that, in the light of the investigations carried out in the exercise of its functions, there are indicia of an act of money laundering or of terrorist financing; |
| i. | Cooperates with other equivalent foreign bodies; |
| j. | Sanctions the minor administrative infringements established by this Law; |
| k. | Sends to the Government the instructed dossiers in which facts appear that may constitute a serious or very serious administrative infringement, accompanied by a proposal of sanction; |
| l. | Sends and receives any information to or from the Andorran National Institute of Finance and other bodies of the Administration, within the framework of a relationship of mutual cooperation, which is essential for the exercise of its functions; |
| m. | Submits to the Public Prosecutor’s Office the cases in which reasonable suspicions of the commission of a criminal infringement appear; |
| n. | Shelves the remaining cases and keeps the dossiers for at least ten years; |
| o. | Submits to the Government legislative or regulatory proposals related to the detection, prevention of and fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and gives advice to the Government in these matters; |
| p. | Prepares and publishes annual reports and statistics to assess the effectiveness of the prevention of and fight against money laundering, the financing of terrorist and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; |
| q. | Designates the self-regulating body or the professional association of the activity concerned as the body to which the non-financial reporting entities shall report in first instance; |
| r. | Exercises any other function that may be assigned to it by Law. |
Composition
The UIFAND is composed by the Head of the UIFAND and, a minimum of one person of recognised technical competence in the legal field, a minimum of two people of recognised technical competence in the financial field, a minimum of two people of recognised technical competence of the Police Department, and the administrative personnel of the UIFAND (as established by article 56 of Law 14/2017, on the prevention and fight against money laundering and terrorist financing).
In compliance with article 57.6 of Law 14/2017, the composition of the UIFAND will be published in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Andorra.
Contact
| |
UIFAND Public opening hours School holidays timetable: |