ADMINISTRATIVE RULES FOR THE REPORTING BY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS OF LARGE-VALUE AND SUSPICIOUS FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS
Decree of the People’s Bank of China
No.3 In accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the People’s Bank of China and other laws and regulations, the Administrative January 3, 2003 Administrative Rules for the Reporting by Financial Institutions of Large-Value and Suspicious Foreign Exchange Transactions Article 1 These Rules are formulated in accordance with Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Foreign Exchange Administration and Article 2 Financial institutions located in the territory of China that run foreign exchange business (hereinafter referred to as financial Large-value foreign exchange transaction refers to foreign exchange transactions above a specified amount made by transactions parties Suspicious foreign exchange transaction refers to foreign exchange transaction with abnormal amount, frequency, source, direction, Article 3 State Administration of Foreign Exchange and its branches (hereinafter referred to as SAFE) are responsible for supervising and administering Article 4 When opening foreign exchange accounts for customers, financial institutions shall abide by Rules on Using Real Name for Opening When processing foreign exchange transactions for customers, financial institutions shall verify information about the customer’s Article 5 Financial institutions shall record all large-value and suspicious foreign exchange fund transactions and keep the record for a minimum Article 6 Financial institutions shall establish and improve internal anti-money laundering post responsibility system, formulate internal Article 7 Financial institutions shall not disclose to any agency or individual information about large-value and suspicious foreign exchange Article 8 The following foreign exchange transactions constitute large-value foreign exchange transactions: (1) Any single deposit, withdrawal, purchase or sale of foreign exchange cash above US$10,000 or its equivalent, or the accumulated amount (2) Foreign exchange non-cash receipt and payment transactions made through transfer, bills, bank card, telephone-banking, internet banking Article 9 The following foreign exchange transactions constitute suspicious foreign exchange cash transactions: (1) Frequent deposit and/or withdrawal of large amount of foreign exchange cash from an individual bankcard or individual deposit account (2) An individual resident transferring to or withdrawing cash in large amount in a foreign country after depositing large amount of foreign (3) Frequent depositing, withdrawal or sale of foreign exchange through an individual foreign exchange cash account below the SAFE validated (4) Non-resident individual requiring banks to open traveler’s check or draft to convert large amount of foreign exchange cash he/she (5) Frequently depositing large amount of foreign exchange cash in a bankcard held by non-resident individual; (6) Frequent and large-amount fund movement through a corporate foreign exchange account not commensurate with the business activities (7) Regular and large-amount cash deposit into a corporate foreign exchange account without withdrawal of large amount of cash from the (8) An enterprise frequently receiving export proceeds in cash that is apparently not commensurate with the range and size of its business; (9) The RMB fund that an enterprise uses to buy foreign exchange for overseas investment is mostly in cash or has been transferred from (10) The RMB fund that a foreign-funded enterprise uses to buy foreign exchange for repatriation of profit is mostly in cash or has been (11) A foreign-funded enterprise making investment in foreign exchange cash. Article 10 The following foreign exchange transactions constitute suspicious foreign exchange non-cash transactions: (1) Foreign exchange account of an individual resident frequently receiving fund from domestic accounts that are not under the same name; (2) An individual resident frequently receiving large amount of foreign exchange remittance from abroad before remitting the total amount (3) Non-resident individual frequently receiving remittance in large amount from abroad, especially from countries (regions) with serious (4) Foreign exchange account of a resident or non-resident individual with a regular pattern of receiving large amount of fund which is (5) An enterprise making frequent and large advance payment for import and commission under trade account below the SAFE validated threshold (6) An enterprise frequently receiving, through its foreign exchange account, export payment in bills (such as check, draft and promissory (7) Dormant foreign exchange accounts or foreign exchange accounts usually with no large fund movement suddenly receiving abnormal foreign (8) An enterprise having frequent and large amount fund transactions through its foreign exchange account not commensurate with the nature (9) The foreign exchange account of an enterprise becoming inactive abruptly following frequent and large amount inflow and outflow of (10) Frequent fund movement through the foreign exchange account of an enterprise in amounts divisible by thousand; (11) Rapid inflow and outflow of fund through the foreign exchange account of an enterprise, the amount of which is big within one day (12) The foreign exchange account of an enterprise remitting abroad the bulk of balance received in multiple small amount electronic transfers, (13) A domestic enterprise opening an offshore account in the name of an overseas legal person or natural person, and the said offshore (14) An enterprise remitting fund to many domestic residents through an offshore account and surrendering foreign exchange to banks in (15) The annual expatriation of profit by a foreign-funded enterprise exceeding the amount of originally invested equity by a large margin (16) A foreign-funded enterprise rapidly moving the fund abroad in a short period of time after receiving the investment, which is not (17) Offsetting deposit and loan transactions with affiliates or connected companies of financial institutions located in regions with (18) Securities institutions ordering banks to transfer foreign exchange fund not for the purpose of securities dealing or settlement; (19) Securities institutions that engages in B share trading business frequently borrowing large amount of foreign exchange fund through (20) Insurance institutions frequently making compensation payment in large amount to or discharging insurance in large amount for the Article 11 Financial institutions shall report the large-value or suspicious foreign exchange fund transactions as defined by Articles 8, 9 Article 12 Financial institutions shall examine the following foreign exchange cash transactions and report promptly any discovery of suspected (1) Amount of expenditure of foreign exchange account roughly tallying with the amount of deposit in the previous day; (2) Depositing foreign exchange or renminbi cash in many transactions in the foreign exchange deposit accounts of other individuals and (3) An enterprise frequently purchasing foreign exchange with renminbi cash. Article 13 Financial institutions shall conduct verification over the following non-cash foreign exchange transactions, and shall promptly report (1) An individual resident frequently switching from one denomination to another when conducting foreign exchange transactions apparently (2) An individual resident asking a bank to issue traveler’s check or draft after frequently receiving foreign exchange remittance from (3) A non-resident individual frequently ordering traveler’s check or cashing traveler’s check or draft in large amount through foreign (4) When opening foreign exchange account, an enterprise declining to provide supporting documents or general information on different (5) An enterprise group making internal foreign exchange fund transfer exceeding the volume of actual business operation; (6) An enterprise providing incomplete documents when surrendering to or purchasing foreign exchange from a bank, or the amount of buying (7) When entering an item of export revenue into an account in a bank, an enterprise failing to provide valid documents but frequently (8) An enterprise frequently receiving foreign exchange, making foreign exchange payment or frequently selling foreign exchange to banks, (9) An enterprise frequently receiving foreign exchange, making foreign exchange payment, or frequently selling foreign exchange to banks, (10) Freight, premium and commission paid by an enterprise apparently not commensurate with its import and export trade; (11) An enterprise often depositing traveler’s check or foreign exchange draft, especially those issued abroad and not commensurate with (12) An enterprise suddenly paying its overdue foreign exchange loan in full with fund whose source is unspecified or not commensurate (13) An enterprise applying for a loan guaranteed by assets or credit belonging to itself or a third party, the source of which is unspecified (14) Raising fund abroad through letter of credit with no foreign trade background or other means; (15) An enterprise knowingly conducting loss-making sales or purchase of foreign exchange; (16) An enterprise seeking to conduct a swap between the local currency and foreign currency for a fund whose source and use is unspecified; (17) The capital invested by the foreign partner of a foreign-funded enterprise exceeding the approved amount or direct external borrowing (18) Local currency fund converted from capital invested by the foreign partner of a foreign-funded enterprise or external borrowing being (19) Fund movement in and out of the foreign exchange cash account of an financial institution apparently not commensurate with the size (20) Fund movement of the internal foreign exchange transaction accounts of a financial institution apparently not commensurate with its (21) Fund movement of the inter-bank foreign exchange transaction account, onshore and offshore business transaction account, or account (22) Foreign exchange credit or settlement between a financial institution and its connected enterprises fluctuating by a large margin (23) A financial institution buying an insurance policy with large value foreign currency cash; and (24) Any foreign exchange fund transaction being suspected with proper reasons by the staff of a bank or other financial institutions as Article 14 Tier-one branches located in provincial capital, capital of autonomous region and municipality directly under the central government Sub-branches and offices of a financial institution shall report, within the first five work days of every month, large-value and Each major reporting unit shall summarize large-value and suspicious foreign exchange fund transactions that take place in the province, The head office of each financial institution shall report, within the first five days of every month, large-value and suspicious Article 15 When a financial institution discovers suspected crime during the examination and analysis of large-value and suspicious foreign Article 16 SAFE branch offices in every province, autonomous region, and municipality directly under the central government shall summarize Article 17 In the case of any of the following misconduct by a financial institution, the SAFE shall issue a warning, order the financial institution (1) Failing to report, according to relevant rules and regulations, large-value or suspicious foreign exchange fund transactions; (2) Failing to keep large-value or suspicious foreign exchange transactions in record as stipulated by relevant rules and regulations; (3) Disclosing large-value or suspicious foreign exchange fund transactions in violation of relevant rules and regulations; and (4) Opening foreign exchange account without examining account-opening document. Article 18 When a financial institution opens a foreign exchange account for an individual customer without examining account-opening documents, Article 19 When a financial institution brings about grave loss as a result of its serious violation of these Rules, the SAFE may cease or revoke Article 20 Disciplinary penalty shall be imposed on the staff of a financial institution who provides assistance to money-laundering activities; Article 21 “Frequent” in these Rules means foreign exchange fund transactions occurring at least three times each day or occurring daily for “Large amount” in these Rules refers to amount close to the threshold amount for reporting as a large-value foreign exchange transaction. “A short period of time” in these Rules means within 10 business days. When “above”, “between” and “up to” are used to indicate a threshold number, a floor or a ceiling, the number that ensues any of them Article 22 These Rules shall enter into force as of March 1, 2003. |
The People’s Republic of China
2003-01-03