EFFECTIVE DATE: MARCH 2, 2022
It is Maya Financial, Inc. (“Maya”)’s policy to prohibit and actively prevent money laundering and any activity that facilitates money laundering or the funding of terrorist or criminal activities by working with our financial software provider Sila Inc. (“Sila”) and banking partner(s) to comply with all applicable requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), the USA PATRIOT Act (the “Patriot Act”), and their implementing regulations.
Money laundering means any activity that is meant to conceal or disguise the origins of criminally derived proceeds to appear to constitute legitimate assets. A criminal will typically achieve money laundering in three stages. At the "placement" stage, the criminal converts cash generated by illicit means into monetary instruments or deposits it into accounts maintained by otherwise legitimate businesses at financial institutions. At the "layering" stage, the criminal transfers or moves the funds into other accounts or other financial institutions to put greater distance between the money and its criminal origins. At the "integration" stage, the criminal reintroduces the funds into the economy, using them to purchase legitimate assets or fund other criminal activities or legitimate businesses.
Financial technology firms that process transactions for their customers are uniquely situated in an evolving technological, financial, and regulatory landscape. Such a firm must always anticipate that its customers or their counterparties could be attempting to launder funds obtained elsewhere or generate illicit funds on the financial technology platform itself.
Unlike money laundering, terrorist financing does not necessarily involve the proceeds of criminal conduct. The funding sources of terrorist financiers are often legitimate. Terrorist financing typically involves an attempt to conceal either the origin of the funds or their intended use, which could be for criminal purposes. Legitimate sources of terrorist financing can include charitable donations, foreign government sponsors, business ownership, and personal employment. Although the motivation differs between traditional money launderers and terrorist financiers, the actual methods used to fund terrorist operations can look similar to methods used by other criminals to launder funds. Funding for terrorist attacks does not always require large sums of money and the associated transactions may not be complex.
This Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering Policy (“BSA/AML Policy”) and our procedures and internal controls for implementing the policy are designed to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. We will review and update this BSA/AML Policy on a regular basis and put in place appropriate procedures and internal controls to account for both regulatory changes and changes in our business.
Maya has designated a Compliance Officer, who is fully responsible for maintaining a program with procedures and internal controls appropriate to give effect to this BSA/AML Policy. The Compliance Officer has a working knowledge of the BSA, the Patriot Act, and their implementing regulations and is qualified by experience, knowledge, and training.
The Compliance Officer will be responsible for overseeing communication and training for employees and monitoring the firm’s compliance with all obligations, including those directly applicable to this firm under the BSA and indirectly applicable through our banking partner. The Compliance Officer will also ensure the firm keeps and maintains all necessary transaction records and timely file both: notices of potentially suspicious transactions with Sila and our banking partners; and reports of currency received in a trade or business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) when appropriate. The Compliance Officer is vested with full responsibility and authority to implement and enforce this BSA/AML Policy.
Maya will provide Sila with the Compliance Officer’s contact information, including his or her name, title, mailing address, email address, and phone number. Maya will promptly notify Sila if there is any change to the Compliance Officer position, his or her contact information, or the BSA/AML Policy itself.
We will respond to any demand made by our financial software provider Sila or our banking partner(s) pursuant to a FinCEN BSA § 314(a) request concerning accounts and transactions by immediately searching our records to determine whether we maintain or have maintained any account for, or have engaged in any transaction with, each individual, entity, or organization named in the demand. We will respond to any such demand within 3 business days unless otherwise specified by Sila or our banking partner(s). Demand should be made to the Compliance Officer at the contact information provided. Unless otherwise stated in the demand, we are required to search those documents outlined in FinCEN’s FAQs. FinCEN’s FAQs relating to the section 314(a) process may be obtained on the Secure Information Sharing System (“SISS”), by calling the FinCEN resource center at 800-767-2825 or 703-905-3591, or by emailing [email protected]. If we find a match, the Compliance Officer will report the match and all relevant documents to Sila or our banking partner (whomever made the demand).
If our Compliance Officer searches our records and does not find a matching account or transaction, he or she will indicate as such in response to Sila’s or our banking partner’s demand. We will maintain documentation that we have performed the required search by electronic records. The Compliance Officer will review, maintain, and implement procedures necessary to protect the security and confidentiality of demands for information made by Sila or our banking partner pursuant to a FinCEN BSA § 314(a) request similar to the procedures we use to protect our customers’ nonpublic information.
Before a customer opens an account, and on an ongoing basis, the Compliance Officer will check to ensure the customer does not appear on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (”SDN”) list or is not engaging in transactions that are prohibited by the economic sanctions and embargoes administered and enforced by OFAC. OFAC regularly updates the SDN list, which is available at https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/sdn-list/pages/default.aspx. Since the SDN list and listings of economic sanctions and embargoes are updated frequently, we will consult them on a regular basis and subscribe to receive any available updates when they occur. With respect to the SDN list, we may also access that list through various software programs to ensure speed and accuracy. The Compliance Officer will also review existing accounts against the SDN list and listings of current sanctions and embargoes when they are updated and document the review.
If we determine that a customer is on the SDN list or is engaging in transactions that are prohibited by the economic sanctions and embargoes administered and enforced by OFAC, we will reject the transaction and, if necessary, block the customer's assets and file a blocked assets or rejected transaction form with OFAC within 10 days. We will also immediately call the OFAC Hotline at 800-540-6322.
Maya has established, documented, and is committed to maintaining a written Customer Identification Program (“CIP”), which includes procedures for Know-Your-Customer/Business (“KYC/KYB”) compliance. We will collect certain minimum customer identification information from every customer who opens an account on our platform. We will: apply risk-based measures to verify the identity of each customer who opens an account; record customer identification information and our verification methods and results; provide adequate CIP notice to customers stating why we need identification information to verify their identities; and compare customer identification information with the OFAC SDN List.