• FC-4.1 FC-4.1 Appointment of MLRO

    • FC-4.1.1

      Conventional bank licensees must appoint a Money Laundering reporting officer ("MLRO"). The MLRO must be approved by the BMA prior to his appointment. The conventional bank licensee must notify the Agency of the appointment of the MLRO, using the MLRO form (Appendix FC-4).

    • FC-4.1.2

      The position of MLRO must not be combined with functions that create potential conflicts of interest, such as an internal auditor or business line head. The position of MLRO may not be outsourced.

    • FC-4.1.3

      Subject to Paragraph FC-4.1.2, however, the position of MLRO may otherwise be combined with other functions in the conventional bank licensee, such as that of Compliance Officer, in cases where the volume and geographical spread of the business is limited and, therefore, the demands of the function are not likely to require a full time resource. Paragraph FC-4.1.6 requires that the MLRO is a Director or employee of the licensee, so the function may not be outsourced to a third party employee.

    • FC-4.1.4

      Conventional bank licensees must appoint a deputy MLRO to act for the MLRO in his absence. The deputy MLRO must be resident in Bahrain unless otherwise agreed with the BMA.

    • FC-4.1.5

      Conventional bank licensees should note that although the MLRO may delegate some of his functions, either within the licensee or even possibly (in the case of larger groups) to individuals performing similar functions for other group entities, that the responsibility for compliance with the requirements of this Module remains with the licensee and the designated MLRO.

    • FC-4.1.6

      So that he can carry out his functions effectively, conventional bank licensees must ensure that their MLRO:

      (a) is a Director or a member of senior management of the licensee;
      (b) has a sufficient level of seniority within the conventional bank licensee, has the authority to act without interference from business line management and has direct access to the Board and senior management (where necessary);
      (c) has sufficient resources, including sufficient time and (if necessary) support staff, and has designated a replacement to carry out the function should the MLRO be unable to perform his duties;
      (d) has unrestricted access to all transactional information relating to any financial services provided by the conventional bank licensee to that customer, or any transactions conducted by the conventional bank licensee on behalf of a customer;
      (e) is provided with timely information needed to identify, analyse and effectively monitor customer accounts;
      (f) has access to all customer due diligence information obtained by the conventional bank licensee; and
      (g) is resident in Bahrain.

    • FC-4.1.7

      In addition, conventional bank licensees must ensure that their MLRO is able to:

      (a) monitor the day-to-day operation of its policies and procedures relevant to this Module; and
      (b) respond promptly to any reasonable request for information made by the Anti-Money Laundering Unit or the BMA.

    • FC-4.1.8

      If the position of MLRO falls vacant, the conventional bank licensee must appoint a permanent replacement (after obtaining BMA approval), within 120 calendar days of the vacancy occurring. Pending the appointment of a permanent replacement, the licensee must make immediate interim arrangements (including the appointment of an acting MLRO) to ensure continuity in the MLRO function's performance. These interim arrangements must be approved by the BMA.