Law that allows freezing money linked to terrorism

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law allows freezing accounts, balances, transfers and capital movements when a person involved is linked to terrorist groups or when the transaction helps finance terrorist activities. It can also ban those people from opening new accounts.
2. The body that decides on the freezing is the Comisión de Vigilancia de Actividades de Financiación del TerrorismoComisión de Vigilancia de Actividades de Financiación del Terrorismo A body made up of several public officials that decides which accounts and transactions are frozen. (Commission for the Monitoring of Terrorist Financing Activities), a new body attached to the Ministry of the Interior. Freezing initially lasts at most six months, and extending it requires judicial authorization.
3. The Commission's decisions are not final: they exhaust the administrative route and can be appealed before the courts. If a criminal case is under way, the criminal court decides whether the freezing continues.
4. Banks, insurers, currency exchange businesses and other financial entities must cooperate: block the use of frozen funds, report suspicious transactions to the Commission and not tell the customer that they have shared information. If they act in good faith, they bear no liability for doing so.
5. If these entities fail to meet their duties, it counts as a very serious offense under the anti-money laundering law. The Commission proposes the penalty and the Minister of the Interior imposes it.
6. The law defines when a person or entity is considered linked to a terrorist organization, for example if they run it, control it, fund it or use it to hide who is behind a transaction. It also requires the Tax Agency, Social Security, the Bank of Spain and other supervisors to hand over data to the Commission.

Who it affects

• Banks, insurers, investment firms and currency exchange businesses: They must carry out the freezes, watch for suspicious transactions and report them to the Commission, without telling the customer.
• People or entities linked to terrorist organizations: Their accounts and transactions can be frozen, and they can be banned from opening new accounts.
• Government bodies and supervisors (Tax Agency, Social Security, Bank of Spain, CNMV): They must hand over to the Commission the personal data and information they obtain in their duties.
• Judges and the Public Prosecutor's Office: They oversee the measures: they authorize extensions of the freeze and can decide on its continuation if there is a criminal case.

Words worth knowing

Bloqueo (freeze)

A ban on moving, using or transferring money or assets, so they cannot change owner, location or destination.

Comisión de Vigilancia de Actividades de Financiación del Terrorismo

A body made up of several public officials that decides which accounts and transactions are frozen.

Recurso contencioso-administrativo

A way to ask a court to review a decision made by a public administration.

Blanqueo de capitales (money laundering)

Giving a legal appearance to money that comes from illegal activities.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries