| (1) The Financial Intelligence Unit-
|
| (a) shall receive reports made in terms of the provisions of this Act and information provided to the Financial Intelligence Unit by any agency of another country, information provided to the Financial Intelligence Unit by a law enforcement agency or a government institution or agency, and other information voluntarily provided to the Financial Intelligence Unit about suspicions of an act constituting an unlawful activity ; | | |
|
| (b) shall collect or require the supervisory authority of a financial institution to collect any information that the Financial Intelligence Unit considers relevant to an act constituting an unlawful activity, or an offence of money laundering or financing of terrorism, or a terrorist activity whether or not publicly available, including commercially available databases, or information that is collected or maintained, including information that is stored, in databases maintained by the Government; | | |
|
| (c) may request information from any Government agency, law enforcement agency and supervisory agency for the purposes of this Act; | | |
|
| (d) may analyze and assess all reports and information ; | | |
|
| (e) shall carry out examinations of all Institutions as set out in section 18 ; | | |
|
| (f) shall refer any matter or any information derived from any report or information it receives to the appropriate law enforcement agency if, on the basis of its analysis and assessment, the Financial Intelligence Unit has reasonable grounds to suspect that the transaction would be relevant to the investigation or prosecution under this Act or of an act constituting an unlawful activity, and in connection therewith, the Financial Intelligence Unit may send a copy of such referral or information to the relevant supervisory authority ; | | |
|
| (g) shall destroy a suspicious transaction report on the expiry of six years from the date of receipt or collection of the report, if there has been no further activity or information relating to the report, or the person named in the report, or six years from the date of the last activity relating to the person or report; | | |
|
| (h) shall instruct or require the supervisory authority of an Institution to take such steps as may be appropriate in relation to any information or report received by the Financial Intelligence Unit, to enforce compliance with this Act or to facilitate any investigation anticipated by the Financial Intelligence Unit or a law enforcement agency ; | | |
|
| (i) shall compile statistics and records, and may disseminate information within Sri Lanka or elsewhere, and make recommendations arising out of any information received ; | | |
|
| (j) shall issue or have the supervisory authority of an Institution issue, rules and guidelines to Institutions in relation to customer identification, record keeping, reporting obligations, the identification of suspicious transactions and such other matters in respect of which the Financial Intelligence Unit has been vested with the power to issue rules or guidelines by this Act; | | |
|
| (k) shall periodically report to all Institutions and other relevant agencies regarding the outcome from reports or information given under the Act; | | |
|
| (l) may obtain further information on parties or transactions referred to in a report made to it under this Act; | | |
|
| (m) may conduct training programs for Institutions in relation to customer identification, record keeping and reporting obligations and the identification of suspicious transactions ; | | |
|
| (n) may undertake due diligence checks and other inquiries as may be necessary for performance of its duties and functions under this Act; | | |
|
| (o) may conduct research into trends and developments in the area of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and improved ways of detecting, preventing and deterring money laundering and the financing of terrorism; | | |
|
| (p) may educate the public and create awareness on matters relating to money laundering and the financing of terrorism; | | |
|
| (q) may disclose as set out in section 16 and 17, any report, any information derived from such report or any other information it receives, to an institution or agency of a foreign state or of an international organization established by the governments of foreign states that has powers and duties similar to those of the Financial Intelligence Unit, if on the basis of its analysis or assessment the Financial Intelligence Unit has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to the investigation or pro-section of any act constituting an unlawful activity, a money laundering offence or a offence of financing of terrorism ; and | | |
|
| (r) may enter into any agreement or arrangement with any domestic government institution or agency regarding the exchange of information. | | |
|
Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts