AML POLICY
Basic information
The purpose for this HBTX Interactive s.r.o. cryptocurrency exchange service (hereinafter we, HBTX Interactive s.r.o.) Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing Policy and Know Your Customer Policy (hereinafter alluded to as the AML/KYC or AML/CFT strategy is to frame how HBTX Interactive s.r.o., the controlling substance behind the hbtx.io website expects to consent to the pertinent Czech Republic and European regulation and standardizing lawful demonstrations, concerning identification, prevention and mitigation of the AML/CFT risks, which are present continually during everyday tasks of the organization. HBTX Interactive s.r.o. puts a lot of effort into keeping users and the platform safe from third parties who are trying to use the platform's features for ML/TF.
Regulatory requirements in EU:
● Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing;
● Payment Institutions and E-money Institutions Act 2010 (MERAS);
● 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive ((EU) 2018/843).
Regulatory requirements in CZ:
Act no. 253/2008 Coll., on Selected Measures against Legitimization of Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism (for companies residing in the Czech Republic) provides guidelines on the appropriate due diligence that should be applied to the customers of the obliged entities, as well as the recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Definitions and process
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. has established a number of written procedures and technical solutions to prevent users from engaging in activities such as money laundering, terrorist financing, drug and human trafficking, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, corruption and bribery, or any other activity that could be considered illegal by any of the jurisdictions in which HBTX Interactive s.r.o. operates, in accordance with international and local regulations. HBTX Interactive s.r.o. is able to react quickly and appropriately to stop people from doing such things.
One definition of money laundering is: the conversion or transfer of property with the knowledge that the property is derived directly from criminal activity or, more obscurely, by participating in an illicit activity as an intermediary, with the intention of concealing or disguising the illegal origin of the property or assisting any participant in such activities to evade legal consequences By integrating the money into the banking system or converting it into valuable assets like property, real estate, securities, etc the primary objective of a person involved in money laundering is to conceal the funds' illicit nature. as if the money came from a legitimate source.
The following are examples of terrorist financing: the willful provision or collection of funds through any means, either directly or indirectly, with the intention or knowledge that they will be used to carry out terrorist acts.
Corruption, fraud, collusion, money laundering or terrorist financing, and other criminal acts are dealt with with "zero tolerance" by HBTX Interactive s.r.o.. HBTX Interactive s.r.o. is using every legal tool at his disposal to find, stop, and deal with any of these things. By submitting a Suspicious Activity Report, the company reserves the right to notify the appropriate authorities of the principal counterparties' or website users' suspicious behavior.
Verification procedures and KYC requirements
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. requires all customers to pass a verification process in order for the business to be able to identify the customer and meet the legal standards required by the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act of the Czech Republic. A secure third-party verification instrument that complies with all relevant privacy laws, including the GDPR, is used in HBTX Interactive s.r.o.’s user verification procedures. In addition, the verification is an essential component of a financial institution's registration because it facilitates a streamlined account recovery process in the event of a loss.
In general, HBTX Interactive s.r.o.’s verification procedures are applied to any type of customer who signs up for the company's services. Depending on the assigned risk profile, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. reserves the right to request additional documents from clients on an individual basis.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o.is required by the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act to verify the identities of all individuals and beneficial owners who enter into a business relationship with the company, as well as the entities that conduct occasional transactions with the company.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. may require enhanced identity verification for any user in certain circumstances (such as in response to strict legal or regulatory requirements or high risks). This could include making it necessary to check the details or sources of funds of any transactions that users have sent or received from their HBTX Interactive s.r.o. accounts during purchases, as well as bitcoin transactions sent or received from their HBTX Interactive s.r.o. accounts.
A reliable, independent source document, data, or information (such as a national ID card or international passport) and a document that can confirm a person's current residential address (such as a bank statement or utility bill) are required by the HBTX Interactive s.r.o. identification procedure. HBTX Interactive s.r.o. reserves the right to collect the following user identification information in order to ensure compliance with the AML-KYC Policy:
For people:
● Name and surname
● Date of birth and place of birth
● E-mail address and/or contact number
● Passport or any government issued ID details
● Residential address
● Country of residence (Identifying risks linked with nations, geographic regions, or territories as a result)
For legal entities:
● Company name
● Date and country of incorporation
● Registration number of the company
● E-mail address and/or contact number
● The CEO and beneficiary's personal information are the same as for people
Users agree to provide (optional) identity, address, and financial status verification documents for the purposes of identity verification under this AML-KYC Policy, which include:
For people:
● Identity document: color copy of the passport (the first, second page with photos, as well as a page with registration data), or a color copy of the document that is able to confirm the identity of the user according to the legislation of the country of which the user is a resident.
● Any governmentally issued document (e.g. a tax statement), clearly indicating the residential address of a person
● A bank statement dated not older than 3 months
● A utility bill dated not older than 3 months
For legal entities:
● Copy of extract from protocol of general meeting of participants/shareholders, Certificate of directors and secretary, minutes of first meeting of directors, register of directors or another document, confirming the appointment of the directors, or equivalent document confirming registration of the corporate acts and amendments, and powers of the company head
● Passport copy of the head of the company (additionally, passport copies may be requested of all individuals who, directly or indirectly, as well as through third parties, own more than 25 percent in the share capital of the company)
● Document confirming the legal entity location or the actual business address, where it operates (copy of utility bill not older than 3 months or copy of the office rental agreement)
● Copy of the certificate of incorporation
● Copy of the memorandum and articles of association or equivalent document, duly registered in the appropriate register
● Certificate of shareholders or register of members
● Reference letter from the bank confirming the opening of a current account, or a copy of the contract with the bank about the account opening
● Certificate of good standing
Data information
The user is aware that the name, residence country, phone number, and any other personal information, as well as any and all required documents (such as a passport, national identity card, driving license, bank account statement, or utility bill), must be accurate and current on the upload date.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. will verify the authenticity of user-supplied documents and information. HBTX Interactive s.r.o. reserves the right to investigate the cases of certain users whose identities have been identified as suspicious or carrying risk. All legal methods will be used to double-check identification information.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. reserves the right to conduct an identity check on an outgoing basis, particularly if the identification document is close to expiration or the activities appear suspicious (distant from the user's typical transaction pattern). Moreover, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. maintains all authority to demand cutting-edge records from the client, or any extra reports and extra data required for ID or check purposes, despite the fact that they have passed character confirmation previously.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. reserves the right to report such an event to the regulator if the user refuses to provide the requested documents and information in response to a request from HBTX Interactive s.r.o. without proper justification. In this case, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. will either not begin a contractual relationship with the user or may even terminate the business relationship with an existing user.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. Privacy Policy, as well as Czech Republic and European regulations, will be strictly followed when gathering, storing, sharing, and protecting user identification information.
If HBTX Interactive s.r.o. learns or suspects that its services are being used for illegal activities after the identity verification process has been completed, it may refuse to provide services to users.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. has an administrative necessity to check the source of fiat assets or digital currency to affirm that the source of assets used to exchange are genuine. Customers are asked to provide documentation that clearly demonstrates where the funds came from during this process.
Rules and procedures
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. carries out the following actions in order to meet the requirements of preventing the legalization and laundering of illegal funds:
● Verification of the new clients, both natural persons and legal entities. The platform prohibits an unverified user from carrying out an exchange operation
● Keeping the customer's information for at least five years after the business relationship ended
● Establishing the risk scoring, as well as the metrics, tools, and solutions for identifying, monitoring, and suspending any suspicious transaction either before or during its start
● In the event that HBTX Interactive s.r.o. is able to determine that a customer has engaged in an activity that is in violation of any provision of the company Pass's AML/CFT policy, the platform should waive any obligations it owes to the user and provide the relevant information regarding a specific user's transactions to the appropriate authorities
Risk assessment
HBTX Interactive s.r.o., in accordance with the local and international requirements, has embraced a risk- based approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. HBTX Interactive s.r.o. is able to ensure that measures to prevent or mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing are proportional to the identified and potential risks by adopting a risk-based approach.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. also has an internal risk management system that identifies activities and profiles that are deemed to be high risk from a legal and/or security perspective. To activate or verify a HBTX Interactive s.r.o. account that has been flagged by our risk management system, additional verification items may be required. In rare instances, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. may refuse to provide service to users who pose an excessive risk to the company.
Transactions and FIAT monitoring
As indicated by existing practices, clients are known not just by confirming their identity (what their identity is) be that as it may, all the more significantly, by analyzing their transactional patterns (how the payments are made). As a result, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. relies not only on manual checks but also on automated transaction monitoring solutions for risk assessment. Among HBTX Interactive s.r.o.’s compliance-related duties are data collection, filtering, record keeping, investigation management, and reporting.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. system functionalities include:
● Check for users' inclusion on well-known "black and negative watch lists" (such as the EU, UN, OFAC, HM Treasury, Interpol database, and lost and stolen documents list), aggregate transfers by multiple data points, place users on watch and service denial lists, open cases for investigation where necessary, send internal communications, and, if necessary, complete statutory reports
● Tools for monitoring transactions
● Management of the case, documents, and records
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. reserves the right, in accordance with this AML-KYC Policy, to monitor all user transactions and take the following actions:
● Ensure that the Compliance officer reports suspicious transactions to the authorized regulator or relevant law enforcement
● In the event of suspicious transactions or activity, at any time request that the user provide any additional information or documents
● When HBTX Interactive s.r.o. has a reasonable suspicion that a user is engaging in illegal activity, it may suspend or terminate the user's account
The Compliance officer will regularly monitor user transactions to determine whether to apply any measures, report them, or treat them as suspicious or legitimate. The above list of options and actions is not exhaustive.
Compliance officer
The person who is responsible for ensuring that the AML-KYC Policy is effectively implemented and enforced is the Compliance officer, who is authorized by HBTX Interactive s.r.o.. All aspects of HBTX Interactive s.r.o.’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing procedures must be monitored by the Compliance officer, particularly:
● Gathering and checking clients' distinguishing proof data
● Establishing and maintaining internal procedures for the preparation, review, submission, and storage of all reports and records required by applicable laws and regulations
● Monitoring transactions and looking into any significant deviations from normal activity
● Implementing records management system that allows for the proper storage and retrieval of documents, files, forms, and logs; regularly updating the risk assessment
● Interacting with law enforcement involved in the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illegal activities, in addition to providing information to local regulators or law enforcement as required by applicable laws and regulations
Non-acceptable paragraphs
The following conditions are included in the AML-KYC Policies fundamental rules:
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. does not accept cash deposits and does not offer cash withdrawal services.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. does not allow users to manage their own accounts or accept deposits from third parties into their accounts;
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. is unable to make any exceptions or make any alterations to the individual client-specific list of the documents required for verification or requested during client interaction with the platform;
If there is a reasonable suspicion that a transaction may have an embedded ML/TF risk, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. reserves the right to unilaterally refuse, cancel, or suspend its processing;
When a Suspicious Activity Report is filed and submitted to the appropriate authorities in accordance with international legal practice, the company has the right, and in some cases the obligation, not to disclose the submission's content to the party being reported.
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. adheres to the AML-KYC Policy by taking into consideration the concerns raised by regulators in a number of nations regarding the possibility of using crypto assets for illegal purposes, particularly for the legalization of criminal proceeds and the attainment of either complete or partial anonymity in transactions, as well as the anonymous purchase or sale of virtual assets.
Prohibited Juridictions
HBTX Interactive s.r.o. may provide limited services for account opening and transaction processing for citizens and residents of, as well as individuals residing in, countries where transactions are prohibited by international sanctions or their internal law regulations in accordance with the requirements of the law and security reasons.
In addition, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. is obligated to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements. In this regard, HBTX Interactive s.r.o. applies increased requirements, such as mandatory identity verification and additional requirements and verification procedures in accordance with HBTX Interactive s.r.o. policies, to residents of countries that have weak anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regimes or that have been designated by the relevant authorities as high risk monitored jurisdictions. These geographical restrictions are enforced based on lists that have been established by the relevant authorities and may be updated from time to time.
Contact us
If you have any questions or concerns about the current AML-KYC policy, please send them to the following address: HBTX Interactive s.r.o. , or contact [email protected] via email.
