Interlegal lawyers consulted the client upon regulating PEP (politically exposed person) status in Ukraine

A client applied to Interlegal on drafting legal opinion for foreign agents in the framework of compliance procedures.

Today, we face compliance procedures not only when operating with banks, but also when interacting with agents. Agency is regulated, inter alia, by the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive and Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC 6).

The task was to provide legal opinion in the framework of Ukrainian legislation to determine its status: PEP or non-PEP.

While drafting legal opinion, provisions of the relevant Law on Financial Monitoring, clarifications of the National Bank of Ukraine, as well as Methodological Recommendations for detection and identification of public figures and securing their financial transactions were taken into account.

Despite the fact that the current Law on Financial Monitoring was adopted as fulfillment of Ukraine's obligations to adapt legislation to European standards, in particular, EU Directive 2015/849 (4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, 4AMLD), there are some discrepancies in its wording.

Such a difference in terms and their interpretation causes a conflict in determining status of the person within international legal relations.

Legal opinion facilitated a substantiated position regarding the client’s status in accordance with the Ukrainian legislation.

The Ukrainian lawyers’ legal position in the form of legal opinion in the process of compliance enables agents to complete successfully due diligence and facilitates the client’s cooperation with the company.