The Central Bank of Kuwait, starting from next July 3, has obliged all banks operating in Kuwait to provide it with data of financial transfers in and out of Kuwait, and cash deposits that are equal to or more than 3,000 dinars.
The sources stated that the Central Bank circulated to the banks that it was decided to establish a database (TRS) for the transactions to be reported, and related to each of the cash deposits made to customer accounts (LCT) and money transfers executed to Kuwait for the benefit of customers (FCT), which are equal to or greater than 3 thousand dinars or its equivalent in foreign currencies per day for one customer, reports a local Arabic daily.
The sources indicated this decision comes within the framework of increasing the Central Bank’s double follow-up to verify the extent of the banks’ commitment to follow up on unusual operations, explaining that, in order to quickly benefit from the data required to be sent from banks according to the guideline in this regard, it was decided that receiving information should be required (TRS) for the relevant data from (LCT) and (FCT) no later than 10 am from the day following the date of executing the transaction, including holidays and official holidays, with the possibility of receiving the system after that for transactions that were not listed by the unit (Financial Intelligence Unit) within the predetermined period, as a result of technical errors or malfunctions that led to this.
In addition, the bank must present the justifications and clarifications that caused this to the Coordination and Monitoring Unit of Information Systems in the Control Sector at the Central Bank, as it is scheduled to take the appropriate regulatory action in the absence of clarifications acceptable to the bank in this regard.
The sources indicated that the Central Bank had previously informed bank officials that it plans to create more tools in this regard, which contribute to increasing the ability to inquire, follow-up and analyze patterns and behavior of unusual operations.
Responsible banking sources expected that the database of these transactions would expand compared to the numbers that the Central Bank had collected years ago, specifically before the establishment of the Financial Intelligence Unit in 2013 regarding combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
The sources attributed the CBK’s new direction to activate receiving these data again, to its desire to develop its continuous capabilities to improve the follow-up and monitoring mechanisms for the entities subject to its control, in carrying out the responsibilities and tasks entrusted to the bank in this regard, without it being clear so far the ability of the banks and the “Central”. It also needs to provide this data on a daily basis and audit it, as the equivalent artificial intelligence is one of the audit challenges, given that it needs artificial intelligence that may not be available in the appropriate manner for the purpose of creating this database of data so far, especially with the high rates of inflation and salaries, and what As a result, it is easy for conversions to rise after the purchasing value has declined.
The sources did not reveal the size of the transfers expected to be collected in the new database, so that the matter is still untested so far, but they pointed out that the required data will include any transfer of 3,000 dinars, which means that it may include transfers of a large segment of employees those whose salaries start at this value and above.
It is unclear whether the banks should provide the Central Bank with their data on a monthly basis once salaries are transferred, or whether the procedure does not include the fixed salaries.
It is noteworthy that CBK officials had earlier held an extensive meeting with directors of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing departments, compliance and internal control managers, and specialists in local banks, with the aim of making arrangements to provide the supervisory regulator with new data.
