AMSF • Sanction procedure (Sovereign Order no. 11.242 of 30 May 2025)

Sovereign Order no. 11.242 of 30 May 2025 (JDM n° 8750 of 6 June 2025) inserts a Chapter XVII: Sanction procedure within the department exercising the sanction function of the Monegasque Financial Security Authority (AMSF) into Sovereign Order no. 2. 318 of 3 August 2009 setting the conditions for application of Law no. 1.362 of 3 August 2009 on the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption, amended.

The new Articles 55 to 57 of Sovereign Order no. 2.318 implement Articles 65-5 and 65-6 of Law no. 1.362: recruitment of the Chairman of the Sanction Panel, meetings of the Sanction Panel and guarantee of independence.

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IN DETAIL

→ Procedures for recruiting the Chairman of the Sanction Panel (Article 55 OS 2.318)

The Sanction Panel is made up of three members, one of whom must be a person with at least five years' experience in the Monegasque judicial system as a magistrate, whether in office or not, who chairs the panel.

The Chairman of the Sanction Panel (including alternates) is recruited in one of the following ways:

1. when in active service in Monaco: authorised by order of the Director of Judicial Services under the conditions set out in Article 11 of Law no. 1.364 of 16 November 2009 on the status of the judiciary, as amended.
2. in other cases: appointed by sovereign order on the proposal of the Director of the AMSF.

→ Sanction panel meetings (Article 56 OS 2.318)

• In principle, sanction panel meetings are not open to the public. By way of exception, at the request of the person concerned, which must be submitted no later than the opening of the meeting, the Chairman may grant special authorisation for the proceedings to be public. This authorisation may be suspended at any time during all or part of the hearing to preserve public order or when any secret protected by Law no. 1.362 as amended is likely to be infringed.
• The Chairman is responsible for policing the hearing and directing the proceedings.
• The Chairman may hear any person s/he deems useful. The defendant may also ask to be heard, in her/his presence and with the Chairman's authorisation, any person s/he considers useful to her/his defence, with the exception of the Authority's civil servants and agents and any other civil servant or agent of the State.
• If the person concerned does not have a sufficient command of the French language, s/he may be assisted by an interpreter of her/his choice.
• The person concerned or her/his counsel, when represented, must speak last.
• Minutes of the meeting are drawn up by an AMSF employee who acts as secretary to the meeting. The minutes shall mention in particular the names of the members of the panel who sat, the names of the member of staff providing secretarial services, the names of those present and, where applicable, the order in which they were heard, the main statements made by the parties and the decision taken after deliberation by the sanction panel or, failing this, the date on which the decision will be handed down.

→ Guarantee of independence (Article 57 OS 2.318)

When dealing with individual cases within the Sanction Panel, the officials or agents, as well as the presiding member, shall act in complete independence. They may not receive instructions from any authority.

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