Kazakhstani law enforcement officials struggle with preventing capital withdrawal
According to Deputy Chairman of the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) Ulan Raisov, the task of proving that illegal money withdrawal was an intentional move is a very hard task as law enforcement agencies have only 15 days to check on a suspicious transaction and get a conclusion from the National Bank and the State Revenue Committee.
As the official noted, the country is countering the illegal withdrawal of assets through internal compliance in banks, a special division that analyzes financial operations. If specialists in these divisions think that a transaction is suspicious, they report it directly to the FMA.
«An official representative of the FMA is the one who decides whether such transaction should proceed or be suspended. We have some time for this work during which we rely on specific sources of information. This is big data, I’d say, a huge amount of data and analytical tools that allow us to swiftly identify risks associated with various transactions,» Raisov said during a roundtable on foreign exchange control in the Senate.
The agency has only three days to check whether a transaction is legal. In some cases, the deadline might be extended to 15 days for following active search measures. After that, the agency should make its final decision.
«We have a complex of problems here. For instance, we need conclusions from the National Bank and the State Revenue Committee. It is very hard to prove that money was withdrawn on purpose. I mean, law enforcement practice is just very weak these days,» the official added.
According to Raisov, the agency has been conducting intensified monitoring and control of financial transactions to counter illegal asset withdrawal since January 2022.
«This job has never stopped. I think it is possible to improve legislation and strengthen sanctions, I mean criminal punishment for these crimes if we work together. In this case, our work might be much simpler, I believe,» the deputy head of the FMA highlighted.
The agency has also prepared a draft law designed to introduce 104 amendments to the current legislation to strengthen illegal revenue countermeasures. The legal basis for these legislative changes is the concept for the development of financial monitoring for 2022–2026.
