Which additional information would support escalating this account for closure?

An investigator at a corporate bank is conducting transaction monitoring alerts clearance.

KYC profile background: An entity customer, doing business offshore in Hong Kong, established a banking business relationship with the bank in 2017 for deposit and loan purposes. It acts as an offshore investment holding company.

The customer declared that the ongoing source of funds to this account comes from group-related companies.

• X is the UBO. and owns 97% shares of this entity customer;

• Y is the authorized signatory of this entity customer.

This entity customer was previously the subject of a SAR/STR.

KYC PROFILE

Customer Name: AAA International Company. Ltd

Customer ID: 123456

Account Opened: June 2017

Last KYC review date: 15 Nov 2020

Country and Year of Incorporation: The British Virgin Islands, May 2017

AML risk level: High

Account opening and purpose: Deposits, Loans, and Trade Finance

Anticipated account activities: 1 to 5 transactions per year and around 1 million per transaction amount

During the investigation, the investigator reviewed remittance transactions activities for the period from Jul 2019 to Sep 2021 and noted the following transactions pattern:

TRANSACTION JOURNAL

Review dates: from July 2019 to Sept 2021 For Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) currency:

Incoming transactions: 2 inward remittances of around 1.88 million HKD in total from different third parties

Outgoing transactions: 24 outward remittances of around 9 4 million HKD in total to different third parties

For United States Dollars (USD) currency:

Incoming transactions: 13 inward remittances of around 3.3 million USD in total from different third parties

Outgoing transactions: 10 outward remittances of around 9.4 million USD in total to different third parties.

RFI Information and Supporting documents:

According to the RFI reply received on 26 May 2021, the customer provided the bank with the information below:

1) All incoming funds received in HKD & USD currencies were monies lent from non-customers of the bank. Copies of loan agreements had been provided as supporting documents. All of the loan agreements were in the same format and all the lenders are engaged in trading business.

2) Some loan agreements were signed among four parties, including among lenders. borrower (the bank’s customer), guarantor, and guardian with supplemental agreements, which stated that the customer, as a borrower, who failed to repay the loan

Which additional information would support escalating this account for closure?
A . The bank files SARs/STRs indicating that Y opened accounts for small companies located in close proximity to the bank.
B . A follow-up request reveals that the account receives funds from loans, collects payments from group-related companies, and sends the payments to the lenders.
C . A review of outward remittances reveals the same pattern of several simple steps for each transaction,
D . A review of X’s personal bank account shows that X received wire transfers that aggregate the amounts transferred to the group-related companies.

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

A review of outward remittances reveals the same pattern of several simple steps for each transaction, which could indicate a layering scheme to obscure the origin and destination of the funds. This would support escalating this account for closure, as it is inconsistent with the customer’s declared purpose and anticipated activities. The other options are not relevant or sufficient to warrant account closure.

Reference: Advanced CAMS-FCI Certification | ACAMS