Insight: V International Congress on Anti-Corruption - ICC Costa Rica  

The Anti-Corruption Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica gathered last Thursday, June 22, in an event that promoted spaces for the dissemination of information and news on anti-corruption, with the participation of global experts and professionals.

Recognizing that Costa Rica and the Latin American region face institutional challenges and problems that call for reflection, education and taking measures to mitigate risks and combat corruption, two innovative and relevant panels were presented for the geopolitical climate in Costa Rica: "Compliance Programs for designated non-financial activities and professions - obligated subjects according to art. 15 Bis of Law 7786" and "Due Diligence: technology hand in hand with compliance".

The first panel, moderated by Juan Carlos Tristán, managing partner of the Anticorruption and Compliance practice of BLP Legal, included the participation of Dunia Zamora, President of the board of directors of the Association of Accountants; Tatiana López, Director of the Compliance program of Portafolio Inmobiliario; and Esteban Rodríguez, founding partner of Stratos Fiduciaria. The diversity of professional perspectives allowed for a comprehensive discussion of the new obligations and responsibilities for those "regulated entities" that carry out non-financial activities.
Article 15 Bis. of Law 7786 establishes the concept of "regulated entities" in the context of compliance programs for non-financial activities and professions. A "regulated entity" refers to those individuals or legal entities that carry out certain specific activities that are identified as being susceptible to be used for money laundering, terrorist financing or other illicit activities. Among them we can find lawyers, notaries, accountants, real estate developers and sellers, trustees, casinos, among others.

In response to the main question of how to start with the implementation of a compliance program in compliance with the legal provisions, several pieces of advice were provided: (i) to structure the program understanding the margin of application of the regulations, generating risk matrices that address both the legal provisions and the needs of the business and its operational risks; (ii) to have mechanisms that allow constant monitoring of the program, its compliance and effectiveness; (iii) to update the policies, know your client, and review the results obtained from the application of such policies; (iv) to include clauses in contracts with clients and business partners that reflect the company’s commitment to anti-money laundering and terrorism prevention regulations; (v) to have the support of the top management of "tone at the top" companies and ensure constant communication with the board of directors; and (vi) to periodically review internal policies and procedures, paying special attention to changes in the environment, risks and applicable regulations.

The second panel discussed the optimization of processes and investment in technological tools for the compilation of information and development of internal processes for due diligence processes. Panelists María Alejandra Vahos, Compliance Risk and Diligence Manager at Kroll, and Alex Siles, CEO of Snap Compliance, provided valuable recommendations to ensure that due diligence processes allow the collection of accurate and useful information for the development of business and commercial activities. The panel was moderated by Viviana Montero, president of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica.

The panelists of this second panel indicated the three initial questions to define and structure a due diligence process according to the objective: Why, when and how? This is in order to determine the relationship to be had with the third party and the reason for which the due diligence process is carried out and to respect the processes and times to obtain the information by the appropriate means. There is no doubt that we have technological tools that can be great allies for compliance at different levels, which, accompanied by comprehensive programs that are respected and observed by organizations and constant monitoring, is an ideal formula to contribute to the goal that many of us share: to be regional leaders in the fight against corruption and money laundering.



Moderator: Juan Carlos Tristán, socio director de la práctica de Anticorrupción y Cumplimiento de la firma BLP Legal

Panelists: Dunia Zamora, presidenta de la junta directiva del Colegio de Contadores, Tatiana López, directora del programa de cumplimiento de Portafolio Inmobiliario y Esteban Rodríguez, socio fundador Stratos Fiduciaria