What is GIIF?

GIIF, or the General Inspector of Financial Information, is a government administration authority responsible for counteracting money laundering and terrorist financing and a central element of the Polish AML/CFT system. GIIF receives and analyses financial information, may request additional data, carries out procedures related to suspending transactions and blocking accounts, provides information to competent authorities, cooperates with domestic and foreign institutions, and supervises compliance with AML/CFT obligations.

In carrying out its tasks, GIIF is supported by the Financial Information Department of the Ministry of Finance. Together, they form the Polish Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit). GIIF is not, however, the Police or the public prosecutor’s office and does not conduct criminal proceedings. Its role is primarily to obtain and analyse financial information and take the actions provided for in the AML Act.

What are the tasks of GIIF?

The scope of GIIF’s activities is much broader than merely receiving information and notifications from obliged institutions. Its tasks primarily include analysing information concerning assets suspected of being connected with money laundering or terrorist financing. GIIF may also request information required for its analyses and make collected information available to authorised authorities under the rules specified in the applicable regulations.

Its tasks also include, among other things:

• carrying out procedures concerning the suspension of transactions and blocking of accounts;
• providing authorised authorities with information and documents substantiating a suspicion that a criminal offence has been committed;
• exchanging information with cooperating units;
• cooperating with foreign financial intelligence units;
• participating in the preparation of the national money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment;
• supervising compliance with AML/CFT regulations;
• performing tasks related to specific restrictive measures;
• imposing administrative penalties in cases provided for by law;
• publishing information and materials concerning the application of AML/CFT regulations.

GIIF is therefore not merely a recipient of AML reports. It receives information, analyses it, combines it with other available data, and takes further action within the limits of its statutory powers. GIIF should also be distinguished from the Financial Information Department. GIIF is the authority, while the Department is an organisational unit of the Ministry of Finance supporting the performance of its tasks.

What information is submitted to GIIF?

The expression “reporting to GIIF” can be misleading because the AML Act provides for several different information obligations and types of notifications. Not every submission of information to GIIF results from a suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing.

Article 72 of the AML Act provides for the submission of information concerning transactions and activities specified in the Act. This is an information obligation triggered by the occurrence of circumstances specified in the regulations, rather than by the mere suspicion that a criminal offence has been committed.

Article 74 of the AML Act is of a different nature. It concerns notifying GIIF of circumstances that may indicate a suspicion that the offence of money laundering or terrorist financing has been committed.

A different situation is regulated by Article 86 of the AML Act, which concerns a reasonable suspicion that a specific transaction or specific assets may be connected with money laundering or terrorist financing. This provision triggers a special procedure relating to the transaction or account. The Act also provides for other cases in which information and notifications must be submitted to the General Inspector.

Therefore, before reporting, it is necessary to determine:

• what event occurred;
• what information the institution possesses;
• whether and what suspicion has been confirmed;
• which legal provision applies;
• under which procedure and within what deadline the information should be submitted.

An alert generated by an AML system is not yet a notification to GIIF. An alert is a signal requiring analysis. Only the completed analysis makes it possible to determine whether an obligation to submit information or a notification has arisen and what legal basis applies. The appropriate reporting procedure results from the circumstances of the case and the applicable regulations, not from the name of the alert in the system.

Can GIIF suspend a transaction or block an account?

Yes, if the conditions specified in the AML Act are met.

The regulations provide for a special procedure in the event of a reasonable suspicion that a specific transaction or specific assets may be connected with money laundering or terrorist financing. After receiving the relevant notification, GIIF conducts its own analysis. If the statutory conditions are met, the General Inspector may issue a request to the obliged institution to suspend the transaction or block the account for the period provided for by law. The procedure may then lead to actions by the competent public prosecutor. This does not mean that every unusual transaction or every alert automatically results in an account being blocked.

The process is more accurately presented as follows:

signal → analysis by the obliged institution → appropriate notification → GIIF analysis → decision within the limits of statutory powers → possible further action by the competent authorities.

The obliged institution, GIIF, and law enforcement authorities perform different roles in this process.

Does GIIF supervise obliged institutions?

Yes. The General Inspector supervises the performance by obliged institutions of their obligations relating to counteracting money laundering and terrorist financing. Inspections may be carried out in accordance with annual inspection plans, but ad hoc inspections are also possible. From the perspective of an obliged institution, what matters is not only formally having the required documents and procedures, but also whether the AML/CFT system actually operates in practice.

An inspection may therefore assess, among other things, whether the institution:

• properly identifies and assesses risk;
• applies customer due diligence measures;
• correctly identifies and verifies customers;
• identifies beneficial owners;
• monitors relationships and transactions;
• properly analyses alerts;
• fulfils information and reporting obligations;
• has appropriate procedures and organisational arrangements in place;
• trains persons responsible for AML obligations;
• properly documents the actions performed and decisions made.

Merely having an AML procedure is therefore not sufficient if the organisation is unable to demonstrate how it applied that procedure in specific cases. GIIF is not, however, the only authority with supervisory powers within the AML system. Depending on the type of obliged institution, inspections or supervision may also be carried out by other authorities specified in the applicable regulations. Therefore, not every AML inspection is an inspection by GIIF.

Is GIIF a law enforcement authority?

No. GIIF is not the Police, the public prosecutor’s office, or another authority established to conduct criminal proceedings. If a person wishes to report a criminal offence, the appropriate authority is generally the Police or the public prosecutor’s office, not GIIF. The General Inspector operates under a different model.

It receives financial information, analyses it, combines data from different sources, identifies links, and assesses them from the perspective of counteracting money laundering and terrorist financing. If the information collected justifies further action by a competent authority, GIIF may provide the relevant information and documents in accordance with the rules specified in the Act. In simplified terms:

obliged institution → analysis → information or notification to GIIF → GIIF financial analysis → competent authorities.

GIIF should also not be confused with the system used to communicate with the authority.

GIIF is the authority. SI*GIIF is the IT system used, among other things, to fulfil certain information obligations and for communication.

Put simply: GIIF analyses financial information and takes actions provided for within the AML/CFT system. Law enforcement authorities conduct criminal proceedings.