President of Turkmenistan Signs Amendments to the Anti–Money Laundering Law
President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov has signed a law introducing amendments and additions to the Law “On Counteracting the Legalization of Criminal Proceeds, the Financing of Terrorism, and the Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.” The document was published in the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper and enters into force on the day of its official publication.
According to the amendments, “virtual asset service providers” are now included among entities subject to financial monitoring and, along with financial institutions, are obligated to report suspicious operations. The law expands the definition of a beneficial owner by including persons “on whose behalf (for whose benefit) a participant in a transaction, a trust, or a foreign legal-form-less structure acts.”
The document introduces new requirements for legal entities. Companies registered in Turkmenistan are obliged to “obtain, update, and store accurate information about their beneficial owners” and “submit these data to the competent tax authorities within ten working days if any changes occur.” Updating information on “high-risk clients” must be conducted “at least once every three months,” and for others — “at least once a year.”
The law establishes control over foreign structures and trusts operating in the country. If a client is a “foreign structure without legal personality,” financial institutions must verify individuals who “directly or indirectly (through third parties) manage, control, or own” such a structure, “including the founder, trustees, and trust managers.”
The amendments tighten procedures for freezing the assets of individuals linked to terrorism. Asset unfreezing must now be carried out “within one working day from the moment the individual or legal entity is removed from the list.” State supervisory authorities are granted the right to “take necessary measures to restrict access to professional activity in the financial sector for individuals with an outstanding or unexpunged conviction for an intentional crime.”
