Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Policy
1. Introduction
nocnoc (Naten SAS) condemns all criminal activities and ensures that its operations are not used for Money Laundering or Terrorism Financing. Nocnoc firmly believes in adopting preventive measures and is committed to preventing the use of its services by clients involved in illegal activities.
This Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Policy of nocnoc applies to its operations and the operations of its subsidiaries, in conjunction with nocnoc’s Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Policy, Code of Conduct, General Terms and Conditions for Sellers, Know Your Seller (KYS) Policy, Tax and Customs Compliance Policy, and any other policies that nocnoc may periodically make available.
This Policy applies to all directors, executives, employees, agents, representatives, consultants, advisors, distributors, suppliers, contractors, or other third parties acting on behalf of the company, regardless of their location. Its goal is to prevent the entity from being used to legitimize money from criminal activities or terrorism financing.
Non-compliance with this Policy may result in disciplinary sanctions or other applicable penalties based on our existing internal policies, labor, civil, and criminal legislation, and national and international applicable laws.
2. Objective
This Policy aims to establish guidelines related to the prevention and combating of money laundering, terrorism financing, and other crimes involving the simulation or concealment of financial resources. The Policy also has the following objectives:
- Establish prevention and control policies and procedures that guarantee compliance with current national and international rules and regulations on the Prevention of Money Laundering, acting as a permanent source of consultation for companies commercially linked to nocnoc.
- Mitigate the risk of the company being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Apply procedures that allow us to clearly identify our clients and final beneficiaries.
- Preserving supporting documentation to enable the reconstruction of operations, for the period required by regulations.
- Comply with the corresponding national and international regulations.
- Prevent both the company and its employees from being subject to criminal, civil and/or commercial sanctions.
- Reaffirm our organization’s commitment to the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
3. Definitions
- Money laundering: according to the definition of the Latin American Federation of Banks, Money Laundering is “a process by which criminally obtained assets are integrated into the legal economic system, appearing to have been obtained lawfully.”
From a theoretical standpoint, the money laundering process is distinguished in three phases:
- Placement: involves introducing illegally obtained money or other values into financial or non-financial institutions.
- Layering: involves complex financial transactions that make it difficult to trace the money back to illegal activity. These layers are designed to complicate the audit trail, disguise the origin of funds, and provide anonymity.
- Integration: involves reintroducing laundered proceeds into the economy to re-enter the financial system as seemingly legitimate funds.
- Terrorist Financing: according to the principles contained in the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism of the United Nations, the offense of Terrorist Financing (hereinafter TF) is committed by anyone, through any means, who collaborates in collecting funds with the intention that they be used, or knowing that they will be used, for financing terrorist activities.
Additionally, the referred Convention considers as terrorist in nature “crimes committed to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian or to any other person not taking direct part in hostilities in a situation of armed conflict, where the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act.”
- Politically Exposed Persons (PEP): a PEP is an individual who holds or has held a prominent public function. Due to their position and influence, many PEPs are recognized to be potentially vulnerable to commit money laundering offenses and related predicate offenses, including corruption and bribery, as well as to engage in terrorism financing activities. The potential risks associated with PEPs justify the application of additional preventive measures against money laundering and terrorism financing.
- Customers: international sellers using nocnoc’s services under a contractual relationship with us.
- Business Partners: all individuals or legal entities commercially linked to nocnoc under a contractual relationship with us (subject to specific terms and conditions), excluding the aforementioned end customers.
4. Regulatory Framework
This nocnoc policy is aligned with and adheres to the applicable legal and regulatory provisions in the locations where the company operates, including but not limited to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-570), UK Bribery Act, and Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.
In Brazil, we also adhere to the provisions established in Law No. 9,613, dated March 3, 1998, and the resolutions issued by the Central Bank of Brazil and the Financial Activities Control Council – COAF, as well as other applicable laws
In Uruguay, we also comply with the provisions of Law No. 19,574, related and complementary norms, as well as the general regulations and specific instructions issued by the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU).
5. Responsibilities
5.1 Board of Directors
nocnoc’s Board of Directors is fully committed to the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. It participates in the development and discussion of all issues related to this objective and is responsible for reviewing and approving relevant internal compliance policies. It also appoints the head of the Compliance Department, who may be an individual or a group.
5.2 Compliance Department
The Compliance Department, through its Compliance Officer, will be responsible for implementing, monitoring and controlling the proper functioning of the prevention system described in this Policy and in the other relevant Policies.
The Compliance Officer will have a hierarchical level appropriate to their responsibilities, will have access to all areas of the entity and will be authorized to request the collaboration of any employee of the company.
Their duties will be as follows, among others:
- Develop, implement, and monitor compliance with this Policy and other relevant Policies.
- Conduct periodic audits and assessments regarding compliance with this Policy.
- Periodically identify and assess the risks of money laundering and terrorism financing associated with nocnoc’s activities.
- Monitor money laundering and terrorism financing risks and take measures to mitigate them.
- Report any suspicious activities of money laundering or terrorism financing to nocnoc’s Board of Directors.
- Be available to clarify doubts related to this Policy and disseminate the rules contained therein.
6. General Policies
nocnoc aims to offer an online sales solution for international sellers, providing integration services with various e-commerce platforms operating in the marketplace model.
These services include, among others, publishing a product catalog on marketplaces, inventory management, logistics services, and customer support.
In this regard, the final customers are international sellers using nocnoc’s services under a contractual relationship with us. The details of the rules governing the customer verification process are detailed in our Know Your Seller Policy.
Additionally, nocnoc maintains contractual/commercial ties with Business Partners. Business Partners are considered all individuals or legal entities commercially linked to nocnoc under a contractual relationship with us (subject to specific terms and conditions), excluding the final customers mentioned in the previous paragraph.
It is nocnoc’s policy not to initiate or maintain commercial relationships with individuals or companies that:
- Natural or legal entities prosecuted or convicted of crimes related to money laundering, terrorism, or terrorist financing when this condition becomes reliably known to nocnoc.
- Persons or entities included on the lists of the Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the United Nations (UN) or the national list defined in Decree 136 of 16.5.2019, as established in UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/1373.
- Natural or legal entities, clients or prospective clients, who do not comply with the Due Diligence requirements established by nocno
6.1 Customer and Business Partner Due Diligence
nocnoc collects and analyzes relevant information about the identity and economic activity of its customers and Business Partners.
This information may come from various sources, both public and private, and constitutes a set of data used to understand the relative risk of each of its customers in relation to their operations, helping prevent fraud and money laundering.
The aspects or tasks comprising the verification process include:
- Customer and Business Partner identification.
- Filling in forms.
- Request for supporting documents.
- Data verification.
- Consultation of Specific Lists.
- Identification of Politically Exposed Persons.
- Declaration request.
- Storing and organizing information.
- Updating data and documents.
All documents and data collected as part of the development of this Policy serve to support the detection of suspicious transactions and provide justification for transactions that may appear suspicious at first glance.
To ensure that people who do business or enter into contracts with our institution are who they say they are, we may record data such as the signature and photograph of the client or user. To do this, we compare this data with documents that are presumed to be authentic, such as an identity card or passport.
For natural persons, the documents that can be used for identification include identity cards, passports and driving licenses.
For legal entities, some of the following documents will be requested:
- Articles of association
- Articles of incorporation
- Bylaws
- Commercial registration
- Notarial documents
- Tax identification documents
- Licenses or special registrations
In cases where people appear to carry out operations on behalf of third parties, personal identification and a legal power of attorney will be required. The approval of the Legal Department will also be required.
The due diligence process must identify whether the potential client is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), relative or close associate of a PEP, in which case enhanced due diligence procedures will be applied.
6.1 Red Flags for Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
During the verification of customers and Business Partners, red flags for money laundering and terrorism financing may arise, including but not limited to:
- Unexplained spikes in account activity.
- Large number of transactions, which could indicate stratification.
- Attempts to conceal identity or the source of your funds.
- The third party is an entity without a clear registered office and is not online.
- The structure of the third party makes it difficult to recognize.
- The third party’s funds for the transaction come from abroad when there is no apparent link between the country of origin of the funds and the third party.
- The third party uses multiple bank accounts or maintains accounts abroad without justification.
- The third party intends to make payments in cash or using bearer checks.
- The third party intends to pay a higher price for the services without a valid reason.
- The third party is located in a tax haven or a high-risk country.
6.2 Enhanced due diligence
In the event of any of the signs described above or if the transaction directly or indirectly involves a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), nocnoc will conduct enhanced due diligence before establishing a business relationship with the customer or Business Partner.
Enhanced due diligence involves gathering additional information to ensure that the person or entity is not engaging in inappropriate or unlawful conduct. This information should include, but not be limited to, the source of the funds, the source of the individual’s or company’s wealth, and the individual’s occupation or type of business. The results of the enhanced due diligence should be documented and filed.
If you are in any doubt as to whether enhanced due diligence is necessary in a specific situation or have any other related questions, please contact the nocnoc Compliance team.
7. Employee policies
All nocnoc employees must comply with the provisions of this Policy, nocnoc’s Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery, the company’s Code of Conduct and other relevant Policies, prioritizing legality and the observance of ethical principles over personal profit or the achievement of commercial objectives.
Additionally, employees must avoid putting themselves in situations that could lead to a conflict between their personal interests and those of the institution.
nocnoc will maintain a training program to keep its employees permanently updated on the subject. A training plan developed by the Compliance Department will be implemented annual.
8. Violation of Policies
Non-compliance with the provisions set forth in this Policy will be punishable if it involves individuals obliged to comply with these provisions.
Any breach caused by the violation of any rule contained in this Policy will result in the application of a sanction, which will be established according to the severity of the infraction and the presence of intent by the employee, following the criteria established below:
- Violations committed with the intention to breach the rules established in this Policy will be considered serious and punishable by suspension or dismissal. The application of sanctions will be evaluated in conjunction with the corresponding hierarchical superior and the company’s management.
- Minor violations or those committed without intent may be sanctioned with verbal or written warnings, as well as with reports prepared and included in the employee’s record.
If a crime is identified, particularly money laundering, the competent authorities must be notified.
9. Inquiries and complaints
Any employee, contractor, supplier, partner or third party who suspects a violation of this Policy must immediately report it to their supervisor or to the company’s Compliance Department by e-mail ([email protected]) or via the anonymous reporting channel made available by nocnoc.
nocnoc will investigate all reported violations and take appropriate disciplinary action against any person linked to nocnoc who is found to have violated this Policy.
nocnoc has zero tolerance for any form of retaliation, including intimidation, exclusion, humiliation or other forms of harassment of employees and collaborators who, in good faith, report misconduct or express concern about a specific practice or decision.
The Compliance Department can also be contacted for queries regarding the content of this Policy through the aforementioned channels.
10. Reference documents
In addition to the Internal Policies, nocnoc uses the following documents as a reference:
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-570);
- UK Bribery Act;
- Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018;
- Law n°19.574 (Uruguay)
- Decree-Law No. 2,848/1940 (“Brazilian Penal Code”);
- Law 13.810/2019 (“Money Laundering Asset Blocking Law”).
- Law No. 12.846/2013, regulated by Decree No. 8.420/2015 (“Brazilian Anti-Corruption Law”);
- Law No. 9.613/1998, amended by Law No. 12.683/12 (“Anti-Money Laundering Law”);
- Law No. 13.260/2016 (“Brazilian Anti-Terrorism Law”).
11. Final Provisions
This document comes into force from the date of its approval, revoking all previous provisions. Periodic reviews will be carried out every 2 (two) years. Any changes to its content must be requested from the Compliance Department. Changes to established work processes must be approved by the Compliance Department and duly documented.
12. Approval and Revision Information
Contact Details | |
Prepared by Policy Owner | Hugo Vecchiato Head of Public Policy |
Verified by Legal | Diego Slinger CLO – Chief Legal Officer |
Released by CEO | Ilan Bajarlia CEO – Chief Executive Officer |
Policy Governance Framework | |
Type of policy | Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Policy |
Revision period | 2 year |