Information about the prevention of negative impacts arising from operations related to sanctions in the Microcreditbank system

Information about the prevention of negative impacts arising from operations related to sanctions in the Microcreditbank system

 Due to the geopolitical situation that has arisen today, leading foreign countries are imposing sanctions on Russia and Belarus, including banks, legal entities, and individuals of these countries, while the list of sanctioned individuals is increasing.

 Leading foreign countries are taking drastic measures to prevent ways of circumventing the current sanctions, including additional sanctions being applied to organizations that allow individuals and legal entities on the sanctioned list to issue funds or send prohibited cargo. In particular, international payment systems and foreign banks are warning commercial banks that making cross-border payments without complying with the requirements of sanctions and prohibitions established by the United States (OFAC, FinCen and BIS) and its allies and creating conditions for circumventing the sanctions may lead to the termination of relations.

 Nowadays, in the Microcreditbank system, a number of operations have been carried out in order to prevent the negative consequences that may arise in the operations of the bank and customers in the implementation of sanctions.

 The Sanctions Compliance Department was established in the bank's organizational structure and regulations were developed. This department is responsible for the identification, assessment, and prevention of risks imposed by foreign states or international financial organizations on countries, legal entities or individuals, certain types of products, and financial transactions in the banking system.

 In addition, appropriate programs (Sanction screening utility, etc.) were installed and launched, which allow the identification of entities that have been sanctioned in the financial activities of the bank and their customers. Today, the transactions of bank clients are checked (screening) through these programs, and the operation is carried out if there is no risk of sanctions against the bank and the client.

 At the same time, seminars and training are being held in cooperation with reputable financial organizations to improve the knowledge and skills of the bank's employees in dealing with financial sanctions. In particular, in cooperation with Kazakhstan's "Zerde" education center, on October 17-19, 2022, the experts of the ICA International Compliance Association of Great Britain conducted training on the subject of "Sanctions Compliance", and at the end of the seminar, participating bank employees received special certificates.