Diamond companies inspections on!

FPS visits any time in June: be prepared!

The Economic Inspectorate of the FPS Economy is conducting inspections at randomly selected registered diamond companies to assess their compliance with the obligations under the anti-money laundering legislation. These inspections can take place in the coming weeks at the registered office of your company, with or without prior notice.

The AWDC has drafted a checklist on how to prepare for the visits, which is available via this link under the question: "Are controls performed on compliance with the AML legislation in the diamond sector?” There you will find the full list of the documents you should have at the ready. If you have any further questions, feel free to get in touch with our AML & Compliance Helpdesk.

If it appears that the company is not actually located at the registered address, you run the risk that the company will be deleted. It is advised to keep your bookkeeping and client identification files up-to-date at all times and to keep them at the registered office of your company.

The authorities may also check on cash payments, use of the Bureau Van Dijk database, use of an anti-money laundering/client acceptance policy, knowledge of the anti-money laundering legislation and so on. The obligations for diamond traders under the AML legislation are explained during the anti-money laundering seminars that the AWDC organizes. These are the items that are checked during such controls.