The Polish Financial Intelligence Unit: A New Institution in the Polish Legal System
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb027301 |
| Pages | 150-157 |
| Published date | 01 April 2001 |
| Date | 01 April 2001 |
| Author | Joanna Sieńczyło‐Chlabicz,Wojciech Filipkowski |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Journal of Money Laundering Control — Vol. 5 No. 2
The Polish Financial Intelligence Unit: A New
Institution in the Polish Legal System
Joanna Sieńczyło-Chlabicz and Wojciech Filipkowski
INTRODUCTION
Since the beginning of the 1990s Poland has been
developing a system of counteracting and fighting
the money laundering phenomenon. Such actions
were started because of the need to protect the
Polish legal system and the Polish economy against
the threat coming from organised criminal groups
wanting to invest in Poland the proceeds derived
from illicit activities. Poland is an attractive country
to them as far as investing is concerned because of
the great demand for capital needed to conduct the
necessary transformations in the economic and
social system.
Polish law lacks a normative definition of the term
'money laundering'. To describe this phenomenon
we should use a description proposed by authors
who deal with this subject. Generally speaking, this
procedure can be defined as a set of activities aimed
at hiding the true origin of illegal incomes acquired
in the course of criminal activity and making them
seem of legal origin in order to use them in the
legal financial system. A model example distinguishes
three basic stages:
— placement: incomes derived from criminal
activity are introduced for the first time into
various institutions of the financial market;
— layering: taking up numerous transactions in
order to hide or disguise the source of income
and owner's identity;
— integration: placing already 'laundered' incomes
in order to assimilate them with legal financial
means.
Owing to the specific character of the phenomenon,
fighting it is extremely difficult and requires applying
non-standard legal solutions. On the other hand,
Poland has only recently started to develop appro-
priate regimes, at the same time adapting its legisla-
ture to comply with international requirements.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)2 is an entirely
new institution in Polish law but absolutely necessary
for its proper functioning. These regulations are of
great significance although they evoke much contro-
versy.
This paper docs not attempt to thoroughly elabo-
rate the subject, but just to present a statutory basis of
the function of the FIU. First, the required para-
meters for those parties obliged to give information
about transactions exercised through them will be
presented. There are also additional duties. Secondly,
the paper will focus on the institution of the FIU itself
— its organisation, structure, rights and duties
towards other state organs in the country, as well as
the scope of cooperation with foreign institutions.
The procedure of halting or delaying transactions
will also be characterised more precisely. Finally,
the possible objections and problems that the enforce-
ment of statutory regulations may present will be dis-
cussed.
ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE OF
THE FIU
The Prime Minister will appoint a general inspector
to the rank of Vice Secretary of State upon the
advice of the Minister of Finance (Art. 3 ss. 2 and 3
of the Act of 16th November, 2000 on Counteracting
the Introduction of Funds Derived from Illegal or
Hidden Sources into the Financial System). The
FIU will perform its tasks with the help of the
organisational unit established for this purpose
under the Ministry of Finance (Art. 3 s. 4 of the
Act on Counteracting Money Laundering). This
solution evokes many controversies which concern
the apolitical character of such an institution and
the degree of its dependence on the Minister of
Finance, and therefore the autonomy of this institu-
tion. It should be emphasised that the position of
the FIU within the structures of state agencies in var-
ious countries differs according to their statutory law.
In the case of neighbouring countries or the ones that
3re at a similar stage of developing anti-money laun-
dering regimes, the FIU functions:
— as a part of the police or prosecutor's offices'
structures (Estonia, Hungary, Latvia)
— as a central organ of state administration
(Romania)
Journal
of
Money Laundering Control
Vol. 5,
No.
2,
2001,
pp.
150-157
© Henry Stewart Publications
ISSN 1368-5201
Page 150
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