This AML Policy on the prevention and combating of money laundering and customer due diligence aims to inform CHIDORI TECHNOLOGIES S.R.L. clients and to ensure the implementation of procedures for the prevention and combating of money laundering, as well as customer due diligence, in accordance with the provisions of Law 129/2019 for the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for the amendment and completion of other normative acts (“Law 129/2019”) and other applicable national and international regulations.
Terms and expressions written with capital letters in this AML Policy will have the meaning attributed to them in the Terms of Use published on the Company’s Website, unless otherwise defined in this AML Policy.
Scope of this AML Policy. Crypto-asset transactions initiated through the Website are executed by the Partners, as defined in the Terms of Use: AHORACRYPTO, S.L., authorised as a crypto-asset service provider under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) by the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), for purchase transactions, and SIA Paybis Europe, authorised as a crypto-asset service provider under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) by Latvijas Banka, for sale transactions. Each Partner is solely responsible for applying anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures to the transactions it executes, including customer identification and verification (KYC), transaction monitoring and reporting to the competent authorities in its jurisdiction, in accordance with its own AML/CFT policy and the Partner Terms (available for AhoraCrypto and for Paybis). This AML Policy describes the measures applied by CHIDORI TECHNOLOGIES S.R.L. to the activities it carries out directly and informs Clients about the role of the Partners.
The information presented below refers mainly to:
Money Laundering – represents the offense provided for in article 49 of Law 129/2019: disguising illegally obtained profits under an appearance of legality. It is carried out in three stages:
Terrorist Financing – represents the offense provided for in article 36 of Law 535/2004 on the prevention and combating of terrorism: the collection or provision, directly or indirectly, of funds, whether licit or illicit, with the intention that they be used, or knowing that they will be used, in whole or in part, to carry out acts of terrorism or to support a terrorist entity.
Reporting Entity – represents the legal entity that has the obligation to take measures regarding the prevention and combating of money laundering, in accordance with the provisions of Law 129/2019. Pursuant to article 5 paragraph (2) of Law 129/2019, CHIDORI TECHNOLOGIES S.R.L. has the status of reporting entity.
Beneficial Owner – any natural person who ultimately owns or controls the Client and/or the natural person on whose behalf or in whose interest a transaction, operation or activity is carried out, directly or indirectly.
Customer Due Diligence – measures to verify the identity of the Client, the purposes for which they transact, the identity of the beneficial owners of the transactions carried out by the Client, and any other information necessary for reporting suspicious transactions or for reporting transactions exceeding the amount of 10,000 Euro (or the equivalent in lei).
Client/ Customer – for the purposes of this AML Policy, any natural person, legal entity or entity without legal personality with which reporting entities conduct business relationships or with which they carry out other operations of a permanent or occasional nature. Any person with whom, in the course of its activities, the reporting entity has negotiated a transaction, even if that transaction was not completed, as well as any person who benefits or has benefited, in the past, from the services of a reporting entity, is considered a client of that reporting entity.
Suspicious Transaction – a transaction in connection with which there is a reasonable suspicion that it involves goods derived from the commission of an offense, or that the person transacting or their representative is not who they claim to be; or in any other situations or with regard to elements that are likely to raise suspicions regarding the nature, economic purpose or motivation of the transaction, such as the existence of anomalies compared to the client’s profile, as well as when there are indications that the data held about the client or the beneficial owner is not real or up to date, and the Client refuses to update it or provides explanations that are not plausible.
Politically Exposed Persons – natural persons who hold or have held important public functions, as included in the list under article 3 of Law 129/2019.
ONPCSB is Romania’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and is directly subordinated to the Romanian Government. The Office’s main objective is to prevent and combat money laundering through in-depth analysis of the information and reports provided by reporting entities, as well as through notification by the authorities in the event of reasonable suspicions regarding the commission of the offense of money laundering or terrorist financing.
As a reporting entity, CHIDORI TECHNOLOGIES S.R.L. has the obligation to provide the Office with reports regarding suspicious transactions or transactions whose value is at least 10,000 Euro (or the equivalent in lei), in relation to the activities it carries out directly. For transactions executed through the Widgets, reporting obligations are fulfilled by the relevant Partner towards the competent authorities in its jurisdiction, in accordance with its own AML/CFT policy. The Company cooperates with the Partners and with the competent authorities and provides any information it holds, within the limits of the law.
Chidori Technologies has published its AML Policy and complies with all applicable laws.
ONPCSB is entitled to request any type of information from CHIDORI TECHNOLOGIES S.R.L. that may be relevant to the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing, and the Company is obliged to make this information available to the Office, in accordance with legal provisions.
The AML Policy defines the elements and measures taken into account by the Company, as well as by the Partners through which the crypto-asset exchange transactions accessible through the Website are executed, in order to identify, quantify and reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing through the services offered.
For transactions carried out through the Website (Widgets), transaction processing, transaction monitoring, verification of Clients’ identity (KYC), and the application of anti-money laundering measures are carried out by the relevant Partner (the licensed crypto-asset service provider), in accordance with its own AML/CFT policies.
The Company does not execute, process or hold funds or Crypto-Assets in connection with transactions carried out through the Widgets and does not take decisions regarding their acceptance, suspension or refusal; these decisions belong exclusively to the relevant Partner. Clients using the Widgets are bound by the Partner Terms and the AML/CFT policy of the relevant Partner, which they accept before initiating a transaction.
For activities carried out directly by the Company (including, if and when active, its own ATMs), the Company has implemented appropriate tools and applications for monitoring transactions. These allow the Company to carry out checks on its own transactions and to identify potentially suspicious business relationships. The existing monitoring system uses appropriate parameters, defined on the basis of national and international standards, while complying with instructions issued by ONPCSB.
For transactions carried out through the Website (Widgets), verification of the Client’s identity (KYC), including restrictions applicable to Politically Exposed Persons, is carried out by the relevant Partner, in accordance with its own customer due diligence policies.
For activities carried out directly by the Company, where and to the extent such activities are active, Customer Due Diligence is the main means by which anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing policies are implemented. Through the checks carried out when a Client expresses an intention to transact through the Company’s own ATMs, potential attempts to carry out suspicious transactions can be identified and, consequently, criminal activity can be effectively prevented.
For transactions carried out through the Company’s own ATMs, where active, Clients may only transact within the limits indicated by the Company. Furthermore, transacting through the Company’s own ATMs is prohibited for Politically Exposed Persons.
The Company also carries out the following types of activities in order to comply with legislation on the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing, with regard to the activities it carries out directly: