Roles and Responsibilities of the Principal Officer

Banks must take reasonable steps to give its PO, or any person to whom the PO’s duties have been delegated, access to any information it has about the customer or transaction(s). The PO will support and co-ordinate senior management focus on managing the money laundering/ terrorist financing risk in individual functions within the bank. The bank should make the PO responsible for the following

• Reporting Requirements: To ensure that the reporting obligations under PMLA are met. The PO should also ensure that all important issues are reported to the senior management of the bank on a periodic basis.
• Review the adequacy of AML systems and controls: Oversight of the implementation of the bank’s AML/ CFT policies and procedures, including the operation of the risk-based approach, is the responsibility of the PO, under delegation from senior management. It must be ensured that appropriate monitoring processes and procedures across the bank are established and maintained.