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Functions of State Financial Intelligence Unit
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21. Part 4 of the Act of 2010 is amended by the insertion of the following Chapter after Chapter 3:
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“Chapter 3A
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State Financial Intelligence Unit
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40A. (1) FIU Ireland may carry out, on behalf of the State, all the functions of an EU Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.
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(2) In this Part ‘FIU Ireland’ means those members of the Garda Síochána, or members of the civilian staff of the Garda Síochána, appointed by the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána in that behalf.
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Powers of FIU Ireland to receive and analyse information
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40B. (1) FIU Ireland shall be responsible for receiving and analysing suspicious transaction reports and other information relevant to money laundering or terrorist financing for the purpose of preventing, detecting and investigating possible money laundering or terrorist financing.
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(2) FIU Ireland’s analysis function shall consist of conducting—
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(a) an operational analysis which focuses on individual cases and specific targets or on appropriate selected information depending on the type and volume of the disclosures received and the expected use of the information after dissemination, and
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(b) a strategic analysis addressing money laundering and terrorist financing trends and patterns.
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Powers of certain members of FIU Ireland to obtain information
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40C. (1) A member of the Garda Síochána who is a member of FIU Ireland shall have access to the central registers established by the State for the purposes of paragraph (3) of Article 30 and paragraph (4) of Article 31 of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.
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(2) A member of the Garda Síochána who is a member of FIU Ireland may, for the purposes of preventing, detecting, investigating or combating money laundering or terrorist financing request any person to provide FIU Ireland with information held by that person under any enactment giving effect to paragraph (1) of Article 30 or paragraph (1) of Article 31 of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.
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(3) A member of the Garda Síochána who is a member of FIU Ireland may make a request in writing for any financial, administrative or law enforcement information that FIU Ireland requires in order to carry out its functions from any of the following:
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(a) a designated person;
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(b) a competent authority;
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(c) the Revenue Commissioners;
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(d) the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
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(4) A designated person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a request for information under subsection (2) or (3) commits an offence and is liable—
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(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months (or both), or
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(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €500,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years (or both).
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Power of FIU Ireland to respond to requests for information from competent authorities
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40D. (1) FIU Ireland shall respond as soon as practicable to any request for information which is based on a concern relating to money laundering or terrorist financing that it receives from—
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(a) a competent authority,
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(b) the Revenue Commissioners, or
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(c) the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
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(2) FIU Ireland may provide the results of its analyses and any additional relevant information to a person mentioned in subsection (1) where there are grounds to suspect money laundering or terrorist financing.
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(3) FIU Ireland shall be under no obligation to comply with the request for information where there are objective grounds for assuming that the provision of such information would have a negative impact on ongoing investigations or analyses, or, in exceptional circumstances, where disclosure of the information would be clearly disproportionate to the legitimate interests of a natural or legal person or irrelevant with regard to the purposes for which it has been requested.
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Power of FIU Ireland to share information
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40E. (1) FIU Ireland may share information with other Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), in accordance with subsection III of Section 3 of Chapter VI of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.
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(2) FIU Ireland may provide any information obtained by it—
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(a) from a central register referred to in section 40C(1), or
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(b) following a request under subsection (2) or (3) of section 40C,
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to a competent authority or to another FIU.”.
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