Mlpa Angola
Mlpa Angola
National Assembly
Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Law revokes Law nr.
12/10, of 19 July – Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Law.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
___________
Whereas the Republic of Angola approved and ratified the Resolutions of the United
Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances, transnational crime and suppression of the financing of terrorism, with a
view to guaranteeing territorial security and the normal operation of the financial
system;
Considering the pressing need to review the system for the prevention and
suppression of money laundering and terrorism financing, in terms of establishing its
efficiency and effectiveness in accordance with international standards, as well as
introducing fundamental aspects to the said system, which strengthen to a large
extent the performance of the duties of the Angolan authorities as related to the
prevention and suppression of the adduced crimes;
Through the mandate of the people, pursuant to paragraphs b) of article 161 and
paragraph d) of article 166 of the Constitution of the Republic of Angola, he National
Assembly passes as follows:
ARTICLE 1
(Object)
1. This law establishes the preventive and repressive measures taken against the
laundering of illegal proceeds advantages and terrorism financing.
2. Money laundering and terrorist financing are prohibited, prevented and
punished, under the terms set forth herein and in applicable laws.
ARTICLE 2
(Definitions)
For purposes of this Law, the following definitions shall be understood and construed
as follows:
a) «Shell Bank» a financial banking institution incorporated in a State or
jurisdiction, where it does not have physical presence or involve administration
and management and is not part of a regulated financial group.
b) «Beneficial Owner» natural persons that are ultimate owners of final control of
a client or persons in whose interest an operation is carried out, which covers:
i. in the event of a client being a legal person:
1) Natural persons who, in the final instance, have ownership or control, directly
or indirectly, equal to or higher than 20% share capital of the company or the
voting rights of a company, which is not a company quoted in regulated market,
subject to the information requirements in accordance with international
norms;
2) Natural persons who, in any other way, wield control of the management of a
legal person.
ii. In the event of a client being a legal entity that administers and distributes
funds;
1) Natural persons that are beneficiaries of at least 20% of their assets, where
future have already been determined.
2) The category of persons in whose major interest the legal person was
established or they perform their duties, where future beneficiaries have not
yet been determined.
3) Natural persons that wield control that is equal to or above 20% of the assets of
the legal person
c) «Property», namely the following:
i. Property of any type, tangible or intangible, corporeal or incorporeal,
moveable or immoveable, acquired through any means, legitimately or
illegitimately, legal documents or instruments in any form, including electronic
or digital that prove right of ownership or an interest in such goods, bank
credits, travelers checks, bank checks, payment orders, shares, bonds,
securities, banker’s draft and letters of credit;
ii. Property held by a criminal agent or a third party, transferred by the criminal
agent to the third party, the former maintaining rights, such as right of
ownership, usufruct, hereditary right, among other obligatory and real rights
over the transferred property;
iii. Property or rights obtained through transactions or exchange of assets
obtained through the commitment of an offence;
iv. Rights, directly or indirectly obtained through the commitment of an offence
or rights over property obtained directly or indirectly through the commitment
of typical illicit acts;
v. Property transformed or merged with assets that are proceeds of the crime
of money laundering.
d) «Confiscation» the permanent loss of assets or advantages that result from
illicit acts, through the decision of a court;
e) «Freezing or Seizure» the temporary prohibition of transfer, conversion,
disposition or movement of assets or advantages, or the temporary custody or
control of proceeds of crime, through the decision of the competent judicial
authority;
f) «Payable-through Accounts» - bank accounts in correspondent banks used
directly by third parties to conduct private operations.
g) «Reporting Entities» financial and non-financial entities as defined in article 3
of this Law;
h) «Bearer Negotiable Instruments» bearer monetary instruments, such as:
i. Travelers Checks
ii.Negotiable instruments, including checks, promissory notes and payment
orders that are bearers, endorsed without restriction, issued for a fictitious
beneficiary or in such a way that the ownership is transferable upon delivery;
iii. Incomplete instruments, including checks, promissory notes and payment
orders, signed but which omit the name of the beneficiary.
i) «Cross-border Physical Movement» any physical entry or exit of cash or bearer
negotiable instruments from one country to another. These terms include the
following means of transport:
i. Physical carriage by a person or in his luggage or vehicle;
ii. Sending through a containers; or
iii. Shipment by post of cash or bearer negotiable instruments by a natural or
legal person.
j) «Unique Reference Number» single combination of letters, symbols or
numbers that refer to a single sender.
k) «Sender» account holder, or in cases where there is no account, a natural or
legal person that submits a request to a financial institution to conduct an
electronic transaction;
l) «Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)» foreign natural persons that hold or held
up to one year earlier, political or public office, as well as his close family
members or people that are known to have close business or commercial
association with him. For the purposes set forth herein, they include:
i. High political or public office holders:
1) Head of State;
2) Head of Government;
3) Members of Government, namely Ministers, Secretaries of State and Vice-
Ministers;
4) Members of Parliament or members of parliament chambers;
5) Judges of superior courts and other high level judicial bodies, whose
decisions are not subject to further appeal, except in exceptional
circumstances;
6) Members of the administration and auditing Boards of the Central Banks;
7) Heads of diplomatic missions and consular posts;
8) High ranking officers of the Armed Forces and Police;
9) Members of administration and auditing of State-owned companies and of
public limited companies which capital is exclusively or mainly public, public
institutes, public foundations, public establishments, regardless their
designation, including management bodies of companies that are part of the
corporate and local sectors;
10) Members of executive boards of International organizations.
ii. Close family members
1. Spouse or persons with which they are living together in the form of
companionate marriage.
2. Parents, children and their respective spouses or people with whom they are
living with together in the form of companionate marriage.
iii. People that are known to have business or commercial relations with
them:
1) Any natural person that is clearly known as joint beneficial ownership of a legal
person or a trust with a holder of a political or public function, or who has close
business relations with him;
2) Any natural person who owns the capital or has voting rights in a legal person or
property of a trust, which is clearly known as having a sole beneficial owner the
holder of a high political or public function.
m) «Service providers to companies and legal arrangements» - all and any person
or company, including trusts that are not covered under the categories set
forth in the present Law, which provide the following professional services
totally or partially to third parties:
i. Constitution of legal persons;
ii. Performance as administrators, managers or secretaries of companies,
partners, shareholders or holders of similar position for other legal person or
create facility to enable a third person to thus perform;
iii. Provision of a headquarters, commercial address, facilities or company
administrative or postal address, or any other legal person or legal
arrangement;
iv. Administration of an express trust or putting in place necessary measures for
another person to thus administer;
v. Engagement as shareholder on behalf of a third party or putting in place
necessary measures for another person to so engage.
n) «Business relationship» - business or professional relations between Reporting
entities and their clients, which, at the time in which it is effectively
established, is aimed to be long lasting;
o) «Occasional Transaction» - any transaction conducted by Reporting entities
outside the scope of an already established business relation;
p) «Wire Transfer» - any operation carried out on behalf of a sender, either
natural or legal, through a financial institution, electronically, aimed at
providing a monetary sum to a beneficiary in another financial institution. The
sender of beneficiary may be the same person;
q) «Financial Information Unit» - an autonomous and independent national
central unit with competence to receive, analyze and disclose information
suspected money laundering or terrorism financing, with separate
organizational and operation structure based on specific regulations, with
public nature, performing its duties with independence and technical and
functional autonomy within the National Bank of Angola.
ARTICLE 3
(Scope of application)
CHAPTER II
Obligations of Reporting Entities
ARTICLE 4
(Obligations)
ARTICLE 5
(Obligation of identification)
1. Reporting entities shall demand identification and verify the identity of their clients
and, where applicable, of their representatives, and of the beneficial owners, through
the presentation of a valid support document whenever:
a) They establish business relationships;
b) They conduct occasional transactions of an amount equal to or higher than,
in local currency, the equivalent of USD15.000.00 (Fifteen Thousand American
Dollars), notwithstanding the transaction to be conducted through a single
operation or various operations that seem to be interrelated;
c) There is suspicion that the operations, irrespective of their amount, are
related to the crime of money laundering or terrorism financing;
d) There are doubts as regards the authenticity or conformity of client
identification data.
2. Whereby the total amount of transactions set forth in paragraphs b) of nr. 1 of this
article is unknown at the time of commencing the operation the reporting entity shall
require identification, from the moment that the said amount is known to it, and
whereby it is above the threshold stipulated in the said paragraph.
3. In the case of natural persons the verification of the identity shall be done through
the presentation of a valid support document, bearing a photograph, containing the
full name, date of birth and nationality.
4. If they are legal persons the identification shall be done through the presentation of
the original or authenticated photocopy of their articles and memorandum of
association, commercial registry certificate or valid license issued by the competent
body, as well as the taxpayer number.
5. Whereby the case of legal persons are not resident in the country the identification
shall be done through equivalent document.
6. The identification of trusts established in accordance with foreign laws or similar
legal instruments, shall include obtaining and verification of the name of the trustees,
settlors and beneficiaries.
7. Whenever the reporting entity becomes aware or has proven suspicion that the
client is not acting on his own, it shall take adequate measures that will enable it to
know the identity of the person or entity on whose behalf the client is acting, namely
the effective beneficiaries.
8. Reporting entities shall also verify if the representatives of clients are legally
empowered to act on their behalf or represent them.
9. The obligation of identification set forth in this article shall be applicable to already
existing clients and the verification of identity of these clients shall be regulated by
supervisory and inspection authorities.
ARTICLE 6
(Timing of Verification of the Identity)
1. The verification of the identity of the client, and where applicable, of their
representatives and of the beneficial owners shall be done when the business
relationship is established or prior to carrying out any occasional transaction.
2. Without precluding the provision set forth above, whenever the risk of money
laundering or financing of terrorism is low, the verification of identity may be
concluded after commencing the business relationship, only in situations that are
indispensable for the execution of the operation, and such procedures shall be carried
out within the shortest possible time.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions set forth in the previous paragraph, in the case of
opening of term deposit accounts, financial banking institutions may not permit debit
or credit operation on the account after the initial deposit, making available of any
payment instrument on the account or carry out any other amendments to its
ownership, whilst the identity of the client is not concluded, pursuant to legal
provisions or applicable regulations.
4. The provision set forth in paragraph nr. 2 above is not applicable, even if the risk is
low, whenever there is suspicion that the operation is related to the crime of money
laundering and financing of terrorism, in which case the provision set forth in
paragraph nr. 1 of this article shall apply.
ARTICLE 7
(Obligation of due diligence)
Apart from identifying clients, their representatives and the effective beneficiaries,
reporting entities shall:
a) Obtain information on the purpose and intended nature of the business
relationship;
b) Obtain information on clients that are legal persons or legal arrangements,
which provide an understanding of the ownership and control structure of the
client;
c) Obtain information, where the risk profile of the client or characteristics of the
operation thus justify, on the origin and destination of the funds sent within
the scope of a business relationship or the conduct of a occasional transaction;
d) Conduct on-going monitoring of the business relationship in order to ensure
that such operations are consistent with the information that the institution
has on the client, his businesses and his risk profile, including, where
necessary, the source of the funds;
e) Keep up-to-date all information obtained during the course of the business
relationship.
ARTICLE 8
(Risk-based approach)
1. When complying with the obligations of identification and due diligence as set forth
in articles 5 to 7 herein, reporting entities may adapt the nature and extent of the
verification procedures and due diligence measures based on the risk associated with
the client, the business relationship, the transaction and the origin or destination of
the funds.
3. Reporting entities shall adopt policies or measures that may be necessary to avoid
the abusive use of new technology in schemes of money laundering and financing of
terrorism.
ARTICLE 9
(Obligation of simplified due diligence)
a) When the client is the State or a public corporation, of any kind, that is part of
the central or local administration;
b) Where the client is a public authority or organ that is subject to transparent
accounting practices and object of audit.
2. In the cases set forth in the previous paragraph, reporting entities shall, in any case,
collect sufficient information to verify if the client fits within one of the categories or
professions, as well as monitor the business relationship in order to be able to detect
complex transaction or abnormally high amount that does not seem to be for
economic objective or legal purpose.
ARTICLE 10
(Obligation of enhanced due diligence)
2. After verifying the circumstances set forth in the previous paragraph, reporting
entities shall seek information from the client on the origin and destination of the
funds and record in writing the outcome of such measures, which shall be made
available to the competent authorities.
6. The regime set forth in the previous paragraph shall continue to apply to persons,
who even having seized to be classified as a PEP, continue to represent a high risk of
money laundering and financing of terrorism due to their profile or to the type of
operations conducted.
ARTICLE 11
(Obligation of refusal)
1. Notwithstanding the operations set forth in article 9 herein, in the event whereby
the requirements stipulated in articles 5, 7 or 10 herein cannot be fulfilled, reporting
entities shall:
2. Whenever the situations set forth in the previous paragraphs occur, reporting
entities shall analyze the circumstances that led to them and, whereby they suspect
that the situation may be related to the practice of a crime of money laundering and
financing of terrorism, they shall perform the communications set forth in article 13 of
the present Law and, where applicable, consider extinguish the business relationship.
ARTICLE 12
(Obligation of record-keeping)
1. Reporting entities shall keep for a period of ten years, from the date that the
transaction was conducted or after the end of the business relation, at least the
following documents:
2. The information referred to in the paragraph above shall be made available to the
Financial Information Unit and other competent authorities.
ARTICLE 13
(Obligation of communication)
1. Reporting entities shall, at their own initiative, immediately inform the Financial
Information Unit, whenever they, know, suspect or have reasonable grounds for
suspecting that an operation with the likely to be associated with the crime of money
laundering or financing of terrorism or any other crime took place, is taking place or
was attempted.
2. Reporting entities shall also report to the Financial Information Unit of all cash
transactions equal to or higher than, in local currency, the equivalent of USD15.000.00
(Fifteen Thousand American Dollars).
3. The information provided, pursuant to the previous paragraphs, may only be used
for criminal procedure purposes, and the identity of the source of the information shall
not be disclosed under any circumstance.
ARTICLE 14
(National Customs Service)
1. The National Customs Service shall, at its own initiative, immediately inform the
Financial Information Unit, whenever it knows, suspects or has reasonable grounds for
suspecting that cross-border physical movement of foreign currency or bear negotiable
instruments that may be associated with the practice of the crime of money
laundering or financing of terrorism or any other crime, took place, is taking place or
was attempted.
2. The National Customs Service shall remit to the Financial Information Unit all the
documents collected during the performance of its duties, related to the operations
set forth in the previous paragraph.
ARTICLE 15
(Obligation of abstention)
4. The Financial Information Unit shall request the General Attorney to confirm the
decision of execution of the suspension, within the period of ten working days
counting from the decision set forth in paragraph nr.2 of this article.
5. The General Attorney shall issue its decision within the period of ten days counting
from the request of the Unit performed as per the previous paragraph, and whereby
the General Attorney does not pronounce within the abovementioned period, the
suspension execution decision shall be considered as having been approved.
6. Whereby the General Attorney does not confirm the decision to execute the
suspension, the Financial Information Unit shall communicate this fact to the reporting
entity to enable it to carry out the operation.
7. In case the reporting entity considers that the abstention as foreseen in paragraph
nr. 1 of this article is not possible, or that, pursuant to consultation with the Financial
Information Unit, it may be prejudicial to the prevention or future investigation of
money laundering or financing of terrorism, the operation may be carried out and the
reporting entity shall immediately provide the Financial Information Unit with
information on the operation.
ARTICLE 16
(Obligation of cooperation)
1. Reporting entities shall promptly cooperate with the Financial Information Unit and
with the supervisory authorities as per article 35 of the present Law, upon request,
providing them with information on certain operations carried out by clients and
submit documents related to certain operations.
ARTICLE 17
(Duty of secrecy)
Reporting entities and the members of the respective management bodies, or those
performing administration functions, management or in a leadership position, their
employees, representatives or other persons that provide services in a permanent
manner, temporary or occasionally, shall not disclose to the client or third parties, that
they communicated information legally required or that a criminal investigation is
being carried out.
ARTICLE 18
(Protection for information provided)
ARTICLE 19
(Obligation of control)
All reporting entities, including the respective subsidiaries, branches and agencies, or
any other form of business representation, with headquarters in Angolan territory shall
have adequate policies, processes and procedures, specifically in issues of risk
assessment and management, audit and internal control to verify their compliance, as
well as proper procedures to ensure strict criteria for hiring employees, in order to
enable them to, at any moment, be able to fulfill the obligations as set forth in the
present Law.
ARTICLE 20
(Obligation of training)
1. All reporting entities shall ensure proper training of their employees and managers
with a view to complying with the obligations set forth in the present Law, as well as
with regulations of prevention and countering of money laundering and financing of
terrorism.
2. Reporting entities shall maintain, for a period of five years, copies of documents or
records of training given to their employees and managers.
CHAPTER III
Specific Obligations of Financial Entities
ARTICLE 21
(Obligations of financial entities)
1. Financial entities are subject to the obligations set forth in article 4 in the present
Law, with the specifications stipulated in the following articles, as well as the
regulatory standards issued by competent supervisory authorities, pursuant to the
terms stipulated in article 35 below.
ARTICLE 22
(Execution of obligations by third parties)
1. Financial entities, except from bureau de change and money transmission services,
are authorized to permit the execution of the obligations of identification and due
diligence on clients, as provided for in article 5 paragraphs a), b) and c) of article 7
herein, in a third party entity, under terms to be regulated by the respective
supervisory and inspection authorities.
2. Financial entities that make use of third parties to ensure compliance with the
obligations set forth in the paragraph above, shall maintain the responsibility for the
exact compliance with those obligations, as though they were the direct executors and
shall have immediate access to information on the respective execution.
3. Pursuant to the provisions set forth in the previous paragraphs of this article,
agreements entered into with a third party entity shall be put into writing.
ARTICLE 23
(Specific obligation of enhanced due diligence)
1. Reporting entities that are financial banking institutions shall, also, apply enhanced
due diligence to cross-border correspondent banking relationships established with
institutions based in other countries.
2. For the purpose of the previous paragraph, financial banking institutions shall obtain
sufficient information on the correspondent institution in order to understand the
nature of its activity, assess its procedures of internal control regarding the prevention
of money laundering and financing of terrorism, ensuring their appropriateness and
effectiveness, and considering, based on publicly known information, its reputation
and the characteristics of the respective supervision.
ARTICLE 24
(Specific obligation of collaboration)
Financial entities shall have systems and instruments that enable them to promptly
and fully respond to information requests made by the Financial Information Unit and
by other competent entities, aimed at ascertaining if they keep or have kept, in the last
five year, business relationships with a certain natural or legal person as well as the
type of relations.
ARTICLE 25
(Specific obligation of examination and communication)
1. Reporting entities shall pay special attention to business relationships and
transactions with clients coming from or going to countries that do not apply or
insufficiently apply international requirements regarding the prevention of money
laundering and financing of terrorism and put in writing the outcome of examinations
carried out on such business relationships and transactions.
2. In the case of operations that indicate special risk of money laundering or financing
of terrorism, namely when they are related to a certain country or jurisdiction subject
to additional counter-measures as decided by the Angolan State or by other
competent international organizations or supervisory authorities as set forth in article
35 of the present Law, they may decide on the obligation of immediate communication
of these operations to the Financial Information Unit, where the amount of such
operations is higher than, in local currency, the equivalent of USD5.000.00 (Five
Thousand American Dollars).
ARTICLE 26
(Subsidiaries and branches in other countries)
1. Financial entities with regard to their subsidiaries or branches, in which they have a
dominant relation, established in third countries, shall:
a) Apply equivalent obligations to those set forth in article 4 of the present Law;
b) Communicate internal policies and procedures set in compliance with the
provisions set forth in article 19 of the present Law that are applicable within
the scope of activities of the subsidiaries and branches.
2. Whereby the laws of the third country do not permit the application of the
measures set forth in paragraph a) of the previous paragraph, the financial entities
shall inform the respective supervisory authorities on this fact and take additional
measures aimed at preventing the risk of money laundering and financing of
terrorism.
ARTICLE 27
(Wire transfers)
1. Financial entities which activity includes wire transfers shall include in the
message or on the payment form that accompanies such transfer, the following
information on the duly verified transfer sender:
a) Full name;
b) Account number;
c) Address; and
d) Where necessary, the name of the financial entity of the sender.
2. Information on the address could be replaced by the date and place of birth of the
sender, his identity card number or by the client identification number.
4. Where the financial entities of the sender and beneficiary are both located in
Angola, the wire transfers do not need to include the information stipulated in
paragraph nr. 1 of this article, and may only contain the account number or single
reference number that enables the tracking of the operation to its sender.
5. The provision set forth in the prior paragraph is only applicable where the financial
entity of the sender is able to make available information on the sender, pursuant to
the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 of this article, within three working days, from the
date of reception of the request from the financial entity of the beneficiary or other
competent authorities.
6. The financial entities to which the previous paragraphs refer shall collect all the
information and transmit it, where they act as intermediaries, to the chain of payment.
7. Whenever technical limitations prevent the full information of the sender from
being transmitted, the intermediary financial entity shall keep all information received
by the financial institution for a period of ten years.
10. Where the financial entity of the beneficiary identifies the existence of incomplete
information of the sender, as per paragraph nr. 9 of this article, it shall reject the
transfer or request the financial entity of the sender for full information on him,
without precluding its obligations of identification, verification and due diligence as set
forth in the present Law.
11. Whereby the financial entity of the sender does not provide the information
stipulated in paragraph nr. 1 of this article, the financial institution of the beneficiary
shall take adequate measures, which, initially, may include the issuance of notices and
setting of timelines, prior to rejecting any future transfer, restricting or extinguishing
the business relationship.
12. In addition to the measures set forth in paragraphs 10 and 11 of this article, in case
the incomplete information of the sender is considered as a factor in the assessment
of the suspicious transfer operations, financial entities shall inform the Financial
Information Unit.
ARTICLE 28
(Shell Banks)
CHAPTER IV
Specific Obligations of Non-Financial Entities
ARTICLE 29
(Obligations of non-financial entities)
Non-financial entities are subject to the obligations set forth in article 4 of the present
Law, with the specifications stipulated in the following articles as well as in regulatory
norms issued by the supervisory and inspection authorities stipulated in paragraph 2 of
article 35.
ARTICLE 30
(Attorneys and other independent professionals)
ARTICLE 31
(Gambling license holders)
a) Identify their gamblers and verify their identity, at the entrance of the gambling
hall or when they acquire or exchange gambling forms or conventional symbols
used for gambling, at an amount equal to or higher than the equivalent in local
currency, to USD2.000.00 (Two Thousand American Dollars);
b) Issue, in the gambling halls, its cheques in exchange for forms or conventional
symbols only at the order of identified gamblers who acquired them using bank
cards or unused cheques up to the maximum amount equivalent to the total of
such acquisitions;
c) Issue, in gambling halls and vendor machines, its cheques for payment of
winnings only at the order of previously identified gamblers earned from play
combinations of vendor machines or jackpot prize system.
2. The identity of gamblers referred to in paragraphs a), b and c) of nr. 1 above shall
always be recorded.
3. The cheques referred to in paragraphs b) and c) of nr. 1 above must be payable and
crossed, mentioning the clause forbidding endorsement.
4. Communication to be done, pursuant to the terms set forth herein, shall be carried
out by the management of the license holder.
ARTICLE 32
(Betting or lottery prize paying authorities)
Entities that pay winners the prizes of winnings of betting or lottery, in the amount
equal to or above the equivalent, in local currency, of USD5.000.00 (Five Thousand
American Dollars) shall identify and verify the identity of the beneficiary of the
payment.
ARTICLE 33
(Entities with real estate business)
1. Natural or legal persons that carry out real estate brokering business, as well as
buying, selling, buying for resale or exchange of properties, as well as the business of
directly or indirectly deciding, promoting, scheduling, directing and financing, with own
or third party funds, building construction, with a view to later transferring or assigning
them, by whichever means, shall do the following at the National Housing Institute:
2. Natural or legal persons that have already commence the activities set forth in the
prior paragraph shall carry out the communication set forth in paragraph a) of that
paragraph within the period of one hundred and eighty days from the date of entrance
into force of this Law.
ARTICLE 34
(Specific obligation of training)
1. Whereby the reporting non-financial entity is a natural person who carries out
professional activity as an employee of a legal person, the obligation of training set
forth in article 20 of the present Law relies on the legal person.
2. The non-financial entity shall keep, for the period of five year, copies of the
documents or records on the training provided to its employees and managers.
CHAPTER V
(Supervision and Inspection)
ARTICLE 35
(Supervision and Inspection)
a) The Gambling Supervision Institute, for casinos, including online casinos, and
entities that pay winnings of betting and lottery;
b) National Directorate of Mines, for dealers in precious metals and precious
stones;
c) The Ministry of Finance, for auditors;
d) The Bar Association, for lawyers;
e) The Ministry of Justice, regarding the legal counsels admitted by law;
f) The Accountants Association, for chartered accountants, accounting
technicians and accountants;
g) The National Directorate of Registries and Notary Acts, for notaries and
registrars of registries;
h) The National Housing Institute, for real estate agents;
i) The National Directorate of Investigation and Inspection of Economic Activities
of the Police General Headquarters, for non-financial entities that are not
subject to the inspection of the other entities stipulated in this article.
ARTICLE 36
(Competences)
ARTICLE 37
(Obligation of communication of supervisory and inspection authorities)
CHAPTER VI
Information and Statistics
ARTICLE 38
(Access to information)
For the full performance of their duties of prevention of money laundering and
financing of terrorism, the Financial Information Unit may request and should have
access, on timely basis, to financial, administrative and law enforcement information,
which shall be subject to the terms set forth in paragraph 3 of article 13 of the present
Law.
ARTICLE 39
(Information Dissemination)
The Financial Information Unit shall, within its powers and legal competences, as well
as the supervisory and inspection authorities as stated in article 35 of the present law,
shall issue alerts and convey updated information on known trends and practices, for
the purpose of preventing money laundering and financing of terrorism.
ARTICLE 40
(Information Feedback)
The Financial Information Unit shall provide timely information feedback to the
reporting entities and supervisory and inspection authorities stated in article 35 of the
present law, on the routing and outcome of information on suspicious money
laundering and financing of terrorism, communicated by them.
ARTICLE 41
(Collection, maintenance and publication of statistical data)
1. The Financial Information Unit shall prepare and maintain updated statistical data
on the number of suspicious transactions communicated, as well as the routing and
outcome of such communications.
3. The Financial Information Unit shall publish the statistical data collected concerning
the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
CHAPTER VII
Sanctions regime
ARTICLE 42
(Application in space)
Notwithstanding the nationality of the agent, the provisions of this chapter shall apply
to:
ARTICLE 43
(Liability)
1. For committing the offenses referred to in this chapter, the following may be held
liable:
a) Financial entities;
b) Non-financial entities.
2. Legal persons shall be liable for offenses when such facts are committed during the
performance of the respective duties, or on their behalf or their account, by the
members of their management bodies, trustees, representatives, workers or any other
permanent or occasional employee.
3. The liability of legal persons does not exclude the individual liability of the respective
agents.
4. The individual liability of the agent shall not be prevented by the fact that the
offense requires certain personal details and that these can only be verified in the legal
person or require that the agent commits the fact in own his interest, having acted in
the interest of another person.
5. The legal invalidity and ineffectiveness of the acts on which the relationship
between the individual agent and legal person is based shall not prevent the provisions
of the above paragraphs from being applied.
ARTICLE 44
(Negligence)
Negligence shall always be punishable, in which case the maximum and minimum fine
limits shall be reduced to half.
ARTICLE 45
(Fulfillment of omitted duty)
ARTICLE 46
(Destination of the fines)
Regardless of the phase in which the sentence becomes definitive or obtain the force
of res judicata, the proceeds of fines revert as follows:
ARTICLE 47
(Liability for payment of fines)
1. Legal persons shall be jointly and severally liable for payment of fines and legal
costs where their managers, trustees, representatives or employees are
sentenced for committing punishable offenses, pursuant to the provisions of
this law.
2. Management officers of legal persons who although they could have done it,
did not oppose the committing of an offense, shall be jointly and severally
liable for payment of the fine and legal costs that such persons are convicted
for, even if they, as at the date of such conviction, have been extinguished or
gone into liquidation.
ARTICLE 48
(Offenses)
ARTICLE 49
(Fines)
The offenses set forth in the previous article are punishable in the following terms:
a) When the offense is committed within the scope of activity of a financial entity:
i. With fine of the amount, in local currency, equivalent to USD25.000.00
(Twenty Five Thousand American Dollars) to 2.500.000.00 (Two Million Five
Hundred Thousand American Dollars), where the agent is a legal person;
ii. With the fine of the amount, in local currency, equivalent to USD12.500.00
(Twelve Thousand Five Hundred American Dollars) to 1.250.000.00 (One Million
Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand American Dollars) where the agent is a
natural person.
ARTICLE 50
(Ancillary sanctions)
Together with the fines, the following additional sanctions may also be applied to the
offender for any of the offenses set out in article 48 of the present law, depending on
the gravity of the misconduct of the agent:
CHAPTER VIII
Procedural Provisions
SECTION I
Competence
ARTICLE 51
(Competence of supervisory and inspection authorities)
ARTICLE 52
(Judiciary competence)
The competent court for legal appeal, revision or execution of any decision
pronounced during the transgression proceedings by a supervisory and inspection
authority of reporting entities shall be the Civil and Administrative Courtroom of the
respective Provincial Court.
SECTION II
Prescription
ARTICLE 53
(Prescription)
1. The procedures on offenses as set forth in this chapter shall prescribe within five
years, from the date on which the offense is committed.
2. The fines and ancillary sanctions will prescribe within five years, from the date on
which the administrative decision becomes definitive or from the date when the
sentence obtains the force of res judicata.
ARTICLE 54
(Suspension of prescription)
1. The prescription of the offense procedure shall be suspended, apart from cases
specifically provided for by law, during the time in which the procedure:
3. In the cases set forth in b) and c) above, the suspension shall not be for more
than one year.
ARTICLE 55
(Interruption of prescription)
3. The prescription of the procedure shall always occur, from its commencement and
provided that the timelines of suspension are adhered to, when the period of
prescription period in addition to half of it has elapsed.
ARTICLE 56
(Suspension of prescription of fine)
The prescription of the payment of fine shall be suspended for the time during which:
a) Due to the law or regulations the execution cannot commence or cannot hold;
b) The execution is interrupted;
c) Payment facilities were granted.
ARTICLE 57
(Interruption of fine prescription)
SECTION III
Third Party In Good Faith
ARTICLE 58
(Defense of third party good faith rights)
1. Where the assets seized from the defendant in a criminal procedure for an offense
related to money laundering or financing of terrorism are found on a public registry to
be in the name of a third party, the owners of such records shall be notified to defend
their rights and give summary proof of their good faith, without misconduct, and such
assets may be immediately returned to him.
2. In the absence of any record, the third party invoking good faith in the acquisition of
the seized assets may arrange for the defense of his rights during the process.
3. The defense of the rights of the third party invoking good faith may be arranged
until the declaration of loss and is immediately submitted through a petition addressed
to the competent court, with the person involved immediately submitting elements of
evidence.
4. The judge may refer the issue to the Civil and Administrative Court room of the
respective Provincial Court when, due to its complexity or delay brought about by the
normal running of the criminal procedure, such case cannot be conveniently decided in
this court.
CHAPTER IX
Criminal Provisions
ARTICLE 59
(Violation of the protection of information provided)
ARTICLE 60
(Money laundering)
1. Whoever converts, transfers, aids, or facilitates any operation for the conversion or
transfer of advantages obtained by themselves or a third party, in order to conceal or
disguise its illicit origin or to avoid that the author or participant of the offence to be
criminally prosecuted or subjected to a criminal reaction, is punished with an
imprisonment penalty of two to eight years.
2. Are deemed as advantages the property resulting from the practice, in any form, of
participation in predicate offenses to the crime of money laundering.
3. In the same penalty incurs whoever conceals or disguises the true nature, source,
location, disposition, movement or ownership of property or rights with respect to
property, knowing that such property or rights result from the practice, under any
form of participation, of the offenses set forth in paragraph nr. 2 of this article.
4. The acquisition, possession or use of property, knowing the person that acquires,
possesses or uses, at the time of receipt, that such property was derived from the
practice, or any form of participation, of the offenses set out in paragraph nr. 2 of this
article, is punished with the same penalty.
5. Predicate offences to the crime of money laundering, as provided for in paragraphs
nr 1, 3 and 4 of this article, are all typical illicit facts punishable with imprisonment
penalty with a minimum duration of six months.
6. The punishment from the crimes set forth in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of this article,
takes place even if the facts that constitute the predicate offense have been
committed outside Angolan territory or even when the place where it is committed or
the identity of their authors are unknown, provided that the relevant conduct is
qualified as a predicate offence by the domestic law of the country in where it is
committed, as well as it would be a criminal offence in the Angolan domestic law in
case the crime was committed in the national territory.
7. The offenses set forth in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of this article are not punishable
when the criminal procedure related to the typical illicit facts from where the
advantages are derived is dependent on the complaint and the complaint has not been
submitted in due time.
8. The penalty set forth in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of this article is increased by 1/3 if the
agent carries out those conducts on a regular basis..
9. Whereby the damage caused to the offended person due to the typical illicit fact,
from which advantages are derived, is fully repaired, without illegitimate third party
damage, up to the commencement of the first hearing in court, the penalty shall be
especially reduced.
10. Once verified the requirements stated in the previous paragraph, the penalty may
be especially reduced if the restoration of the damage is partial.
11. The penalty may be especially reduced if the agent concretely assists in the
collection of proofs that are decisive for the identification or capture of the responsible
for committing the typical illicit acts from which the advantages are derived.
12. The penalty applied, pursuant to the terms of the previous paragraphs, shall not
exceed the maximum limit of the highest penalty among those provided for the
practice of typical illicit acts from which advantages are derived.
13. The author of the crime of money laundering may be convicted, regardless of his
conviction for the practice of the predicate offence from which the property with illicit
source is derived.
ARTICLE 61
(Terrorist organization)
ARTICLE 62
(Terrorism)
1. Whoever, by any means, directly or indirectly, with the intention to harm national
integrity or independence, destroy, alter or subvert the functioning of the State
institutions enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Angola, to force Angolan
authorities to engage in certain acts, refrain from practicing or tolerates that they be
practiced, or intimidate certain people, groups of people or the general population
through:
2. The punishments set forth in paragraph nr. 1 of this article are further aggravated by
1/3, in the respective minimum and maximum limit, where the agent is the leader of a
terrorist association, organization or group, and by 1/4 where the agent is only a
member or collaborator.
4. Whoever attempts to commit the offense set out in paragraph nr. 1 of this article is
also punishable.
5. The penalty may be specially reduced or may not be meted out where the agent
voluntarily abandons its activity, removes or considerably reduces the danger it causes,
preventing the result that the law seeks to avoid, or concretely assists in the collection
of proofs that are decisive for the identification or capture of other responsible.
ARTICLE 63
(International Terrorism)
1. Whoever, through whatever means, directly or indirectly, with the intention of
harming the integrity or independence of a State, destroying, altering or subverting the
functioning of institutions of such State or of an international public institution,
compelling the respective authorities to engage in certain acts, refrain from engaging
in them or tolerate is practice, or even intimidate certain persons, groups of people or
the general population with the acts foreseen in article 62 (1) shall be punished with
the imprisonment penalty of 5 to 15 years, or with a penalty that corresponds to the
crime committed, in addition to 1/3 in its minimum and maximum limits, if equal to or
higher than the penalty.
2. The provisions set forth in article 62 paragraphs 2 to 5 of the present Law are also
applicable.
ARTICLE 64
(Financial Terrorism)
2. In order for any act to constitute the offense set out in the preceding paragraph, it is
not necessary that the funds were actually use to commit the facts set forth therein, or
that those are linked to a specific fact or facts.
3. The penalty shall be specially reduced or punishment may not be applied where the
agent voluntarily abandons his activity, removes or considerably reduces the danger he
causes or concretely assists in the collection of proofs that are decisive for the
identification or capture of other responsible.
4. For the purpose of paragraph 1 of this article funds shall be understood as property
such as those set forth in article 2 paragraph c) of the present Law.
ARTICLE 65
(Criminal liability of legal persons and similar entities and applicable penalties)
1. Legal persons, corporations and mere de facto associations are liable for the crimes
set out in articles 60, 61, 62 and 63 of the present law, when committed on their
behalf and in their collective interest, by their bodies or representatives, or by a
person under their authority, where such commission was made possible due to an
intentional violation of their obligations of surveillance or control.
2. The liability of the entities set out in the foregoing paragraph shall not exclude the
individual liability of the respective agent.
3. The following major penalties shall be applicable to legal persons for the crimes set
forth in paragraph 1 of this article:
a) Fine;
b) Dissolution.
4. The penalty of fine shall be fixed in days, a minimum of one hundred and maximum
of one thousand days.
6. Whereby the fine is issued against a legal arrangement, the common assets shall
respond for it and, in their absence or insufficiency, the assets of each of the associates
or effective beneficial owners jointly and severally make its payment.
7. The penalty of dissolution is only decreed where the partners of the legal person
had the sole or predominant intention of, through it, committing the crimes set out in
nr. 1 of this article or where the repeated practice of such crimes shows that the legal
person or corporation is being used, solely and predominantly, for this purpose, either
by its members, or by the person carrying out the respective administration.
8. The following ancillary penalties shall be applicable to legal persons for the
commission of the crimes set forth in paragraph nr.1 of this article:
ARTICLE 66
(Provisional Measures)
2. The funds provided for in article 64 paragraph nr. 4 of the present law, suspected to
be or known to be used to finance terrorism, may also be frozen or seized, as well as
the instrumentalities used or intended to be used in the commitment of the crimes
set forth of the present law.
3. The seizure or freezing of the property and funds as per above shall not harm the
rights acquired by good faith third parties.
4. The person or entity whose property is seized, frozen or later confiscated may
appeal before a court against the decision of seizure, freezing or confiscation of such
property in general terms.
CHAPTER X
International Cooperation
ARTICLE 67
(Cooperation with foreign counterparts)
1. Competent local authorities shall ensure international cooperation with their foreign
counterparts on the issue of prevention and repression of money laundering and
countering financing of terrorism.
6. The cooperation shall not be refused based on laws that impose duties of
confidentiality and secrecy on the competent local authorities, save where such
relevant information is acquired under circumstances that involve professional
secrecy.
CHAPTER XI
Final Provisions
ARTICLE 68
(Regulation)
This Law shall be regulated, by the Head of the Executive, who may delegate to his
subsidiary bodies, within the one hundred and twenty days, from the date of its entry
into force.
ARTICLE 69
(Doubts and omissions)
All doubts and omissions arising from the interpretation and implementation of this
Law shall be settled by the National Assembly.
ARTICLE 70
(Revocation)
Law nr. 12/10 of July – Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism
Act is hereby revoked.
ARTICLE 71
(Entry into force)
This Law shall enter into force on the date of its publication.
Seen and approved by the National Assembly, in Luanda, on this 27th day of October
2011.