Report suspected infringement

1. Report by a supervised entity’s employee or agent concerning suspected infringement of AML regulation

Entities supervised by the FIN-FSA shall have in place procedures allowing its employees or agents to report any suspected infringements of the AML Act and provisions issued thereunder using an independent channel within the obliged entity (whistleblowing procedures). However, entities supervised by the FIN-FSA need not have the above procedures if the FIN-FSA, has decided, subject to an application by the supervised entity, that the FIN-FSA's reporting channel is sufficient in view of the obliged entity’s size and activities and the associated risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

If the FIN-FSA has decided that the supervised entity's employees and agents are allowed to use the FIN-FSA's reporting channel, the supervised entity does not have to arrange a reporting channel of its own. Instructions for supervised entities on submitting an application are provided here.

A supervised entity's employee or agent is not required to show specific evidence to report a suspected infringement – justified suspicion is enough. The whistleblower is protected by the confidentiality of the system. In addition, the whistleblower is protected by section 71 b of the FIN-FSA Act, providing that no person shall be held liable, in respect of the provision of information, for any breach of restrictions on information reporting carried out on the basis of an agreement, act, decree or regulation. However, if the report is proven obviously false, it may give rise to a request for police investigation.

Instructions on filing a report by an employee or agent

2. Other report of suspected infringement of AML regulation by a supervised entity

It is also possible for other parties than a supervised entity's employees and agents to report to the FIN-FSA a supervised entity's conduct considered by the reporter non-compliant with anti-money laundering regulation. A suspected infringement is not limited to suspected criminal offences, but it covers all suspected infringements of regulation.

A report of suspected infringement may be filed by anyone. It is likely that the whistleblower is usually in a position to come across non-public information on the conduct of a FIN-FSA supervised entity, its management or employee. Such entities include, for example, credit institutions, investment firms, insurance companies and management companies (list of entities supervised by the FIN-FSA). The entity may also have its internal reporting system. The FIN-FSA's system is an alternative channel for reporting suspected infringements.

A whistleblower does not need specific evidence to report a suspected infringement – justified suspicion is enough. The whistleblower is protected by the confidentiality of the system. In addition, the whistleblower is protected by section 71 b of the FIN-FSA Act, providing that no person shall be held liable, in respect of the provision of information, for any breach of restrictions on information reporting carried out on the basis of an agreement, act, decree or regulation. However, if a report is proven obviously false, it may give rise to a request for police investigation.

Instructions on reporting by a supervised entity

What is not a suspected infringement?

a. Disputes between a supervised entity and a customer as well as customer complaints.

The system is not intended for processing disputes between financial service and product providers supervised by the FIN-FSA and their customers. These fall within the scope of other procedures (such as alternative dispute resolution bodies), see the following link. Matters reported via the system will be forwarded to the relevant supervisory department within the FIN-FSA. This also applies to administrative complaints filed against parties performing public administration duties supervised by the FIN-FSA. Hence, customer complaints should not be made using this channel.

b. Suspicious transaction reports

Where suspicious transactions are concerned, a report can be made directly to the police by sending an email at rahanpesuilmoitukset@poliisi.fi. In non-urgent cases, one may also send a net tip regarding suspicious content or phenomena at www.poliisi.fi/nettivinkki. The net tip form is not intended to report actual crimes. A crime can be reported using the online police report service. Suspected infringements of the AML Act can be reported applying a low threshold, and no specific evidence is required in support of the suspicion. The reporter's personal information is confidential and will not be disclosed to the supervised entity implicated in the report. A report can also be made anonymously.