Legal consequences of failure to submit quarterly statistics to the GIIF

After the end of each quarter, Polish VASPs have to submit quarterly statistics to the General Inspector of Financial Information (GIIF). What are the legal consequences for failure to do so in a timely manner?

Key information:

Pursuant to the AML Act (Article 76) and GIIF Communiqué No. 67 on the introduction of the obligation of quarterly reporting by obliged institutions operating in the field of virtual currencies, VASPs are required to submit quarterly statistics to the General Inspector of Financial Information (GIIF) via the GIIF's dedicated ICT system. This should be done no later than on the 18th day after the end of each quarter.

Possible sanctions:

The AML Act indicates in Article 147(12) that an obliged institution that fails to comply with the obligation to provide or make available the information requested by the GIIF (including the provision of quarterly statistics) is subject to an administrative penalty. The administrative penalties that the GIIF may impose on obliged institutions are, in turn, set out in Article 150(1) of the AML Act. The most typical one would usually be the monetary fine. Pursuant to Article 150(2), the fine is imposed up to the amount of twice the amount of the benefit gained or loss avoided by the obliged institution as a result of the breach, and where it is not possible to determine the amount of such benefit or loss - up to the equivalent of EUR 1,000,000. 

Summary:

In order to reduce the risk of an administrative penalty being imposed on a Polish VASP under the AML Act, institutions should implement appropriate mechanisms to effectively comply with their obligations to file quarterly statistics. This includes gathering of relevant information that should be reported, so that it is available before the deadline. Submission must be done through the GIIF's ICT system which requires a Qualified Electronic Signature of a reporting person. It is worth noting that institutions may add more than one such person, and @tau.legal might help with the entire process.