THE Febraban determined that from this Monday (27th), member institutions will adopt stricter rules to identify and close orange, cold and online betting accounts that operate without authorization from the Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA), of the Ministry of Finance. The entity’s new self-regulation aims to reinforce the fight against fraud, digital scams and money laundering schemes.
“We are creating a milestone in the process of debugging toxic relationships with customers who rent or sell their accounts and who use the financial system to drain resources from scams, fraud and cyber attacks,” said the president of Febraban, Isaac Sidney, in a statement.
The new guidelines are as follows:
- Strict policies and specific criteria for checking fraudulent (“orange” and cold) accounts and accounts used by irregular bettors;
- Refusal of transactions and immediate closure of illicit accounts, with communication to the holder;
- Mandatory transfer of information to the Central Bank, allowing information to be shared between financial institutions;
- Monitoring and supervision of the process, by Febraban’s Self-Regulation Department, which may request, at any time, evidence of reporting and closing illicit accounts.
- Active participation of the fraud prevention, money laundering, legal and bank ombudsman areas, which even participated in the drafting of the new rules.
- In case of non-compliance, there will be punishments, from immediate adjustment of conduct and warning to exclusion from the Self-Regulation system.
Banks have the following additional obligations:
- Maintain internal policies for identifying and closing suspicious accounts;
- Present a declaration of compliance with Febraban Self-Regulation, prepared by an independent area, internal audit, compliance or internal controls;
- Promote, with the help of Febraban, communication, guidance and education actions to prevent scams and fraud.
Digital crimes
The initiative comes amid an increase in digital crimes and suspicious financial transactions. “Without exception, banks and fintechs have a duty to prevent the opening and maintenance of fraudulent accounts. Bank accounts cannot serve as a shelter to launder criminal money”, reinforced the president of Febraban.
Sidney also highlighted that opening the financial sector to competition is positive, but cannot compromise the integrity of the system. “We are witnessing the proliferation of fragile institutions in the face of financial crimes. Anyone who wants to negotiate the integrity of the system needs to be reached by the strong arm of the State and regulators”, he added.
Among the participating institutions are Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica Federal, Bradesco, Itaú, Santander, BTG Pactual, Safra and Banco Original, among others. In case of non-compliance, banks may suffer sanctions ranging from a warning to exclusion from the self-regulation system.
Fonte Gaming365 – Brasil
