Pursuant to the National Ordinance on the Supervision of the Aruba Money Transfer Companies the business of money transfer Company is subject to a license issued by the Central Bank. However, such license is not required for credit institutions that already possess a license under the National Ordinance on the Supervision of Banking and Credit Institutions.
In order to be considered for a license to operate as a money transfer company in Curacao, the applicant must comply with certain requirements set by the Central Bank, which are laid down in the aforementioned National Ordinance as well as in policies of the Central Bank. Furthermore, once the license has been granted, the money transfer company needs to continuously comply with the directives and guidelines issued by the Central Bank.
The CBA supervises money transfer companies by virtue of the State Ordinance Supervision Money Transfer Companies, which is primarily focused on maintaining a high level of integrity of the financial system.
Registration obligation and application
It is prohibited to be active as money transfer company, unless the relevant entity is registered by the CBA in a public register. Licensed credit institutions are exempted from this prohibition.
A money transfer company can apply for a registration at the CBA. The CBA will assess whether the applicant is able to comply with all registration requirements, including the fitness and properness of (qualifying) shareholders and key persons (e.g. members of the Management and Supervisory Board), and with all relevant laws and regulations (see below).
Ongoing supervision
Via off-site surveillance and periodic on-site examinations the CBA will conduct ongoing oversight over the money transfer companies.
Money transfer companies must comply with the relevant requirements of the State Ordinance Supervision Money Transfer Companies and related regulations. Money transfer companies must also comply with the State Ordinance on the Prevention and Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT State Ordinance) Handbook for the prevention and detection of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism for financial and trust services providers (AML/CFT Handbook) issued by the Centrale Bank van Aruba.
Furthermore, money transfer companies must comply with the financial sanctions regulations. In this respect, money transfer companies must take duly notice of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Caribbean Financial Action Task force (CFATF) warning lists, periodically circulated by the CBA.
Why Valsen
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- We have a full in-house compliance support for all compliance requirements with the regulator and service providers