The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is planning to tighten the monitoring of exchange companies through CCTV cameras in order to curb money laundering and terror financing in the country.
The central bank said that the directives regarding the monitoring of exchange companies are mandatory for continuing their business in Pakistan.
SBP Stated,
In order to further strengthen the AML/CFT regime for Exchange Companies and Exchange Companies of ‘B’ category and with a view to further improve their operational risk management, the mechanism for monitoring through Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras installed at company outlets is being standardized.
The central bank has asked to ensure monitoring the outlets of exchange companies and exchange companies of ‘B’ Category including their Head Offices, Branches, Franchises, Currency Exchange Booths, and Payment Booths.
Each outlet shall be equipped with high resolution CCTV cameras having zoom function in order to monitor and clearly capture all activities taking place in the respective outlet.
The CCTV cameras shall be installed at appropriate locations of each outlet for proper monitoring in such a manner that each area and activity taking place in the outlet must be captured in the recording, particularly cash counters, customer area, vault, printers, computer systems, manager cabin etc. The entrance/exit of the outlet shall also be adequately covered.
The recording of CCTV footage shall continue for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, with necessary lighting facility for clarity in video recording. Further, proper electricity back-up shall also be arranged for the purpose, the central bank stated.
The video recording through CCTV cameras shall be preserved for at least two months. However, in case of any dispute/incident within the business premises, the related recording shall be preserved till the resolution of the matter. However, in case the matter is under investigation or is sub-judice before a court of law, the related recordings shall be preserved for a period as may be required in terms of applicable laws/regulations and/or Court’s orders.
The backup of the recording shall be maintained at an appropriate place in case a company keeps the original recording in the same outlet to avoid loss of recording in case of any untoward incident taking place at the outlet e.g. earthquake, fire breakout etc.
In case of any technical issues in installed CCTV cameras/Digital Video Recording (DVR) system, the same shall immediately be communicated to the Head Office of the company by the respective outlet. All correspondence among outlets, Head Offices and vendor shall be preserved and made available to the State Bank’s inspection team for their review during the course of an inspection.
The time of the CCTV cameras and DVR system installed at the outlets shall be synchronized with the time of the core business application.
The staff of the outlets shall be provided training to operate CCTV camera/DVR system.
The above instructions shall become effective from January 01, 2019. Failure to comply with the above instructions shall attract regulatory action under the relevant provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.
