Preventing money laundering: fines for infringements of the law total almost EUR 900,000
In total, more than 98,500 suspicious money transactions were reported in Lithuania in 2023, while the total amount of fines imposed on obliged entities for breaches of the law on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing amounted to more than EUR 895 thousand. These are the figures published by the Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FCIS) after summarising the results of the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing last year.
Payment and electronic money institutions submitted the largest number of suspicious monetary transactions reports (STRs) last year, with more than 89.5 thousand STRs.
"There has been a marked increase in STR reporting activity by Virtual Currency Operators (VCOs), with almost 1.5 times as many STRs received - 6,515 (4,094 in 2022). However, not all obliged entities provide information to the FCIS. Last year, not a single STR report was submitted by lawyers, real estate agents (brokers), persons engaged in trade in movable cultural property, antiques and precious metals", - Rolandas Kiškis, Director of the FCIS, assesses the data.
Last year, companies organising gambling and lotteries were also very active in submitting STRs, with the number of STRs jumping from 3 in 2022 to 206 in 2023.
Inspections and fines
The Authority is responsible for the supervision of financial institutions and other obliged entities. Last year, 32 inspections of obliged entities were carried out. The inspections revealed deficiencies in compliance with the provisions of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Law on AML/CFT) and were dealt with by the Commission for the Examination of Violations of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
The Commission examined 16 inspection materials of entities operating in the area of VCOs over the past year. Two companies were issued warnings and 14 companies were sanctioned with fines ranging from EUR 2.7 thousand to almost EUR 237 thousand. The total amount of fines imposed on other obliged entities in 2023 for infringements of the Law on AML/CFT amounted to more than EUR 895,000, of which almost EUR 755,000 have already been paid to the State budget.
Suspended funds declined
Compared to 2022, the amount of monetary transactions suspended under Article 16 of the Law on AML/CFT has almost tripled, with more than EUR 53.5 million suspended (2022: more than EUR 162 million), including more than EUR 9 million subsequently subject to a temporary restriction of property rights under the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Lithuania (2022: more than EUR 8 million). This decrease can be attributed to the advice provided by FCIS specialists.
The analysis of STR notifications received in 2023 from financial institutions and other obliged entities shows a trend towards increasingly sophisticated schemes used by legal and natural persons to evade international sanctions or to reduce their impact.
Similar trends are expected to continue this year.
Further statistics are provided in the annual report of the Money Laundering Prevention Board of the FCIS, which is available here.