Fortunately, one thing that can always be relied on are deadlines and reporting! Right?
Unfortunately, No. Not even deadlines for reporting can be counted on as the FIAU is extending REQ reporting deadlines from 1st April – 4th March. Eliminating the ‘Late reporting fee and window’ in favour of just extending the deadline to March 4th, with potential for further extensions to come.
In a statement the FIAU said:
REQs: The FIAU appreciates that, in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, several Subject Persons are also implementing measures. That these may impact their capability and efficiency in responding to regulatory submissions, and in this regard, the FIAU would like to notify Subject Persons that the late submission penalty fee of EUR 100 applicable throughout the REQ submission period (from 1st April 2020 to 4th May 2020) shall not be applicable. There shall also not be a ‘late submission’ period, and the only deadline for the submission of the REQ shall, for the time being, (and unless further extended by the FIAU which will be monitoring the situation,) be set for 4th May 2020 at 17:00hrs. Subject Persons who submit their REQ after the 4th May deadline may be subject to administrative penalties.
FIAU Notice to Subject Persons regarding the measures taken by the FIAU in response to the COVID‐19 outbreak (including REQ‐related measures). – 2020
The FIAU further mentioned in the same statement that both telephone communication and physical meetings would be taking a back seat in the midst of the Coronavirus ‘soft-lockdown’, Saying:
Queries from Subject Persons: Should Subject Persons have any queries, including REQ‐related queries, Subject Persons are kindly requested not to contact the FIAU by telephone, but to send an email on one of the following email addresses, depending on the subject matter in question. In the email, kindly include a contact number.
– caspar@fiumalta.org for REQ and Caspar‐related queries;
– queries@fiumalta.org for AML/CFT technical queries;
– compliance@fiumalta.org for all other queries regarding the FIAU’s AML/CFT supervisory and enforcement functions;
Physical meetings: To a large extent, and unless it is strictly necessary, the FIAU is not holding any physical meetings, and is either postponing them or holding such meetings through other alternative means, such as videoconference or teleconference. In this respect, we kindly ask Subject Persons to refrain from coming to the offices of the FIAU unless a meeting has been scheduled.
FIAU Notice to Subject Persons regarding the measures taken by the FIAU in response to the COVID‐19 outbreak (including REQ‐related measures). – 2020
A move that may be welcomed by some who were worried over this year’s more advanced REQ! However, we obviously hope to see a speedy return to normal business operations.
But, if you require further information we recommend heading to the FIAU website here & original statement quoted from is found here.
