THE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING DIVISION, INVESTIGATION BUREAU,
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) – AMLD- AND THE
SUPERINTENDENCY OF BANKS through its SPECIAL VERIFICATION
INTENDANCY – IVE-, REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA, hereinafter referred
to as “ the Parties ”, desire, in a spirit of cooperation and
mutual interest, to facilitate the analysis concerning cases of
suspected money or other assets laundering, associated predicate
offences and terrorism financing, with a view to exchanging
information which may ultimately result in investigations and
prosecutions by competent authorities in their respective
Countries, pursuant to their legal frameworks.
To that end, having regard to the relevant documents of the
Egmont Group and, particularly, the “ Charter ” and the “
Principles for Information Exchange between Financial
Intelligence Units ”, the Parties have agreed with the
following:
1. The Parties shall cooperate to assemble, develop and analyze
information relevant to suspected money or other assets
laundering, associated predicate offences and terrorism
financing, pursuant their national law.
2. The Parties shall freely exchange spontaneously or upon
request the widest range of information available or
obtainable, based on reciprocity.
3. The Parties shall provide all information that they would be
able to obtain domestically. In particular, the Parties shall
provide:
a. All information required to be accessible or obtainable
directly or indirectly; this includes in particular the
information that the Parties have the power to obtain for
their domestic analysis;
b. Any other information which the Parties have the power to
obtain or access, directly or indirectly, at the domestic
level; and
c. Analysis of financial data, and exchange of studies and
information on trends and typologies about money or other
assets laundering, associated predicate offences and
terrorism financing, pursuant their national laws.
4. Information exchanged between the Parties shall be used only
for intelligence purposes and will not be used as evidence in
court.
5. All requests for information exchange and their responses
under this Agreement, shall be in writing and duly signed by
the Parties as follows:
a. For the Taiwanese Party, all information requests and
responses from the Anti-Money Laundering Division,
Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Justice (AMLD), shall be
signed by the Director or whoever acts on his/her behalf;
and
b. For the Guatemalan Party, all information requests and
responses from the Superintendency of Banks, through the
Special Verification Intendancy (IVE) shall be signed by
the Special Verification Intendant or whoever acts on
his/her behalf.
6. If an Party is subject to legal process or proceedings that
would require the disclosure of information it has received
from the other Party, the Party subject to such process or
proceedings shall immediately notify and seek the express
consent of the other Party to disclose the information, and
if consent has not been provided, reasonable efforts shall be
taken to ensure that appropriate limitations are placed upon
the disclosure.
7. To enable a timely and efficient execution of the requests,
the Parties shall make their best efforts to provide, in the
requests, relevant factual and legal information, including
the description of the case being analyzed and the potential
link with the country of the requested Party. They shall also
indicate any need for urgency.
8. The Parties shall indicate the reasons for the requests, the
authorities on behalf of whom those are sent and the purpose
for which the information will be used.
9. The Parties will not refuse to provide assistance on the
grounds that:
a. the request is also considered to involve fiscal matters;
b. laws and regulations require financial institutions or
designated non-financial businesses and professions
(except where the relevant information that is sought is
held under circumstances where legal privilege or legal
professional secrecy applies) to maintain secrecy or
confidentiality;
c. there is an inquiry, investigation or judicial proceeding
underway in the Country of the requested Party, unless the
assistance would impede that inquiry, investigation or
proceeding;
d. the nature or status (civil, administrative, law
enforcement etc.) of the requesting Party is different to
the requested Party;
e. the case to which the request refers to is not considered
relevant or suspicious or the specific type of the
predicate offence is not known in the analytical phase.
10. The Parties shall acknowledge receipt of the requests and
shall respond to such requests in a timely manner. The
Parties shall use their best efforts to provide interim or
partial responses in a timely manner in such cases where
there may be a delay in providing a full response.
11. The Parties shall use the information exchanged only for the
purpose for which it was sought or provided. Any
dissemination of the information to other authorities or any
use of this information beyond those originally approved
shall be subject to prior authorization by the requested
Party.
12. Each Party shall include warning notices on any responsive
information that it is provided to any third party,
including the parties identified in the request for
information. The notices should be sufficient to place third
parties on notice that the information cannot be disclosed
to any other party, without the prior consent of the
providing Party, and that the information will not be used
as evidence in formal court proceedings.
13. In any case where the requesting Party becomes aware that a
court or tribunal may order the disclosure of such
information or documents obtained in application of this
Agreement, the requesting Party shall:
a. Perform the necessary steps to warn the requesting
tribunal or court, about the existence of this Agreement
in which the conditions under which such information was
obtained and can be used;
b. Advise the disclosing Party of the possibility that an
order for disclosure will be made; and
c. Advise the disclosing Party, without delay, as soon as it
becomes aware that a court or tribunal has ordered the
disclosure of the information or documents obtained based
on this Agreement, and of the terms of any such order.
d. The requesting Party shall notify the disclosing Party,
without delay and in writing, of any disclosure or misuse
that is of their knowledge, of the information or
documents obtained under this instrument, without the
consent of the disclosing Party and shall advise of the
steps that have been and/or will be taken to deal with
the situation.
14. The Parties will not require statements, reports,
appraisals, or any intervention from officials or staff from
the disclosing Party in any court or tribunal proceedings,
or any administrative action, which may arise from the
exchange or use of the information or documents obtained in
application of this instrument.
15. The prior consent for further use or dissemination shall be
granted by the Parties promptly and to the largest extent
possible. Such consent shall not be refused unless this
would fall beyond the scope of application of the providing
Party ’ s AML/CTF provisions, could impair a criminal
investigation, would be clearly disproportionate to the
legitimate interests of a natural or legal person or the
State of the Party providing the information or would
otherwise not be in accordance with its national law.
16. Any refusal to provide the prior consent shall be
appropriately motivated and explained and the Parties shall
explore alternative ways so that the information exchanged
can be used by competent authorities.
17. Upon request and whenever possible, the Parties shall
provide feedback to the other Party on the use of the
information provided.
18. The information acquired in application of this Agreement is
confidential. It is subject to official secrecy and is
protected by the same confidentiality and/or secrecy as
provided by the national legislation of each Party for
similar information and documents from national sources.
Notwithstanding the termination of this Agreement, this
provision shall remain in effect after the termination of
this Agreement.
19. Exchanges of information shall take place in a secure way
and through reliable channels or mechanisms. To this end,
the Parties shall use the Egmont Secure Web. In the case
that one or both Parties do not have access to the Egmont
Group Secure Web, the communication and exchange of
information will take place through other encrypted webs or
channels that guarantee the same level of security,
reliability and effectiveness, similar or equivalent to the
Egmont Secure Web, which will be determined by mutual
agreement.
20. The Parties shall jointly arrange, consistent with the
legislation of their respective countries, for acceptable
procedures of communication and will consult each other with
the purpose of implementing this Agreement.
21. In interpreting and implementing this Agreement, the Parties
shall ensure consistency with the provisions of the Egmont
Group, particularly with the “ Charter ” and the “
Principles for Information Exchange between Financial
Intelligence Units ”. The Parties shall abide directly by
these provisions for any further issue which is not covered
in this Agreement.
22. Communication between the Parties shall take place in
English.
23. This Agreement may be amended, totally or partially, at any
time by mutual consent in writing, duly signed by both
Parties.
24. This Agreement is revocable at any time. The termination
shall become effective as from the reception of the written
notification from the other Party. The terms and conditions
of this Agreement dealing with confidentiality and/or
secrecy of the information and/or documentation received
prior to the termination of this Agreement, shall remain in
force after the termination of this Agreement.
25. This Agreement shall become effective upon the date of
signature by the Parties.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized by
their respective Authorities, have signed this Agreement.
Signed in The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands, on 3rd of July,
2019, in duplicate in Chinese, English and Spanish. In the event
of any conflict or discrepancy of interpretation, the English
text shall prevail.
For the Anti-Money For the Superintendency
Laundering Division of Banks through the
(AMLD), Investigation Special Verification
Bureau, Ministry of Intendancy (IVE), Republic
Justice, Republic of of Guatemala
China (Taiwan)
________________________ ____________________________
Mr. Hung-Chin Lee Lic. Saulo De Leon Duran
(Gilbert Lee)
Director Special Verification Intendant