Within the AML-CFT Law and its AML-CFT Decision, a suspicious transaction refers to any transaction, attempted transaction, or funds for which an LFI has reasonable grounds to suspect as constituting—in whole or in part, and regardless of the amount or the timing - any of the following:

The AML-CFT Law and its AML-CFT Decision define a predicate offence as “any act constituting an offense or misdemeanour under the applicable laws of the State whether this act is committed inside or outside the State when such act is punishable in both countries.”

It should be noted that the only requirement for a transaction to be considered as suspicious is “reasonable grounds” in relation to the conditions referenced above. Thus, the suspicious nature of a transaction can be inferred from certain information, including indicators; financial/transactional and behavioral patterns; Customer Due Diligence (“CDD”) information; or adverse media information, and it is not dependent on obtaining evidence that a predicate offense has actually occurred or on proving the illicit source of the proceeds involved. LFIs do not need to have knowledge of the underlying criminal activity nor any founded suspicion that the proceeds originate from a criminal activity; reasonable grounds to suspect any such criminal activity are sufficient.

LFIs should also note that suspicious transactions need not be completed, in progress, or pending completion. Attempted transactions, transactions that are not executed and past transactions, regardless of their timing or completion status, which are found upon review to cause reasonable grounds for suspicion, must be reported in accordance with the relevant requirements.