The former French Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Michel Sapin, and TRACFIN director, Mr. Bruno Dalles, were received in Monaco in October by Mr. Michel Hunault, MP and Honorary Professor at Sciences Po Paris, with AMAF support.
In a brilliant presentation, the Minister explained the birth of the law on corruption prevention and transparency of economic life and public procedures (Sapin Laws 1 & 2). Its purpose is to make ethics a key to combating reputational risk. After emphasising that the Principality meets the highest international standards, the Minister underlined the importance of compliance implications. For companies and states, the latter are directly tied to economic competitiveness, particularly in the internet age, where the question of reputation is crucial. The Minister identified the severe damage caused by international corruption and rolled out the four stages of the French anti-corruption plan:
- combating domestic corruption
- implementing dedicated business support tools for preventing corruption, hence the creation of the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA)
- establishing a risk map
- penalty powers, with the implementation of the plea agreement. This public interest judicial agreement - Convention Judicaire d’Intérêt Public (CJIP) - allows discussion with the prosecution service on how to resolve a difficulty. It is likely to impose three kinds of obligation on the accused legal entity, namely payment of a fine, establishment of a compliance plan under French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) control, and compensation for damages suffered by any identified victims. Implemented in 2018, the CJIP is showing results.
According to Mr. Bruno Dalles, compliance is becoming an element of communication and competition, with each state wishing to be ‘more compliant’ than the others.
The suspicious transaction report is an effective anti-money laundering tool. It must be compiled and submitted to TRACFIN by any body commissioned with funds transfers, when it cannot obtain proof of the origin and legal destination of the funds.
TRACFIN considers it an analytical basis, for which the legal framework is fundamentally different from that of whistleblowers.
TRACFIN never refers a case to the courts on the basis of a suspicious transaction report. The latter cannot be made part of the proceedings, must be arguable and must describe the suspicious nature of the transaction. In 2017, TRACFIN received and analysed 71 070 items of information (+10% in 1 year, +57% in 2 years and +160% in 5 years) mainly originating from banks.
France will be assessed by the FATF again in 2020. The objectives of TRACFIN are to improve the quality of suspicious transaction reporting, strengthen IT processing, and improve international cooperation.
