Law Against the Crime of Money Laundering

The purpose of this Law is the repression and punishment of the Crime of Money Laundering, as a form of organized crime, to establish precautionary measures to ensure the availability of goods, products or instruments of such crime, as well as the application of the provisions contained in the International Conventions subscribed and ratified by Honduras. CHAPTER II DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of this Law, the following terms are understood to mean:

• 1)

  ASSETS: Goods of any kind, corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, securities, and documents or legal instruments that certify ownership or other rights over said assets;

• 2)

  CONVENTIONS: Conventions are understood to mean:

  • a)

    The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, subscribed in Vienna, Austria, on December 20, 1988;

  • b)

    The Central American Agreement for the Prevention and Repression of Money Laundering Crimes and Assets, related to Illicit Drug Trafficking and Narcotics, subscribed in Panama, on July 11, 1997; and, c) Other Conventions subscribed and ratified by Honduras;

• 3)

  FORFEITURE OR SEIZURE: Understood as the deprivation or loss, with a definitive character, of goods, products, instruments and the effects of crimes typified in this Law, ordered by the competent Judicial Body, unless it is property of a third party not responsible for the crime;

• 4)

  MONEY: National or foreign currency, foreign exchange, funds, cash, capital or any other word synonymous with or by which this is referred to or known;

• 5)

  PRECAUTIONARY ATTACHMENT: A precautionary measure consisting of the temporary prohibition of transferring, converting, alienating, encumbering or moving assets, or their temporary custody or control, by means of an order issued by the competent Judicial Body or the Public Prosecutor's Office;

• 6)

  SEIZURE: Temporary prohibition for the possession, use or mobilization of goods, products, instruments, or objects used or for which there is evidence that they will be used in the commission of crimes typified in this Law;

• 7)

  INSTRUMENTS: Understood as things or objects used or intended to be used, or with respect to which there is evidence that they will be used in any manner, wholly or partially in the commission of crimes typified in this Law;

• 8)

  COMMISSION: Understood as the Commission as the "National Commission of Banks and Insurance" (CNBS);

• 9)

  MONEY LAUNDERING: Activity aimed at legitimizing income or assets derived from illicit activities or lacking economic foundation or legal support for their possession;

• 10)

  PERSON: Understood as all natural or juridical entities capable of acquiring rights or contracting obligations;

• 11)

  PRODUCT: Understood as goods obtained or derived directly or indirectly from the commission of crimes typified in this Law, or that lack economic foundation or legal support for their possession;

• 12)

  TRANSACTION: Business or operation, civil or commercial, conducted through any means;

• 13)

  INSTITUTIONS SUPERVISED BY THE COMMISSION: Those institutions that are under the supervision, vigilance and control of the National Commission of Banks and Insurance, such as: State and private banks, financial companies, savings and loan associations, general warehouse deposit facilities, stock exchanges, foreign exchange houses, brokerage posts, other savings and credit organisms, public or private pension administrators, insurance and reinsurance companies, credit associations or any other institution dedicated to activities subject to and supervised by the Commission.

• 14)

  INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES: Activities and technical and scientific skills that within the framework of the Constitution and the Laws are developed or used for the investigation of crimes typified in this Law;

• 15)

  OABI: Understood as the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets; and,

• 16)

  UIF: Understood as the Financial Information Unit. CHAPTER III OF THE CRIME OF MONEY LAUNDERING

Whoever, by himself or through an intermediary, acquires, possesses, administers, safeguards, uses, converts, transfers, moves, conceals or prevents the determination of the origin, location, destination, movement or ownership of assets, products or instruments that proceed directly or indirectly from the crimes of illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, influence peddling, illegal arms trafficking, trafficking in human organs, theft or robbery of motor vehicles, robbery of financial institutions, fraud or financial scams in public or private activities, kidnapping, terrorism and related crimes, or that do not have legal economic cause or justification for their origin, shall incur in the crime of money laundering and shall be sanctioned with fifteen (15) years to twenty (20) years of imprisonment.

Whoever, by himself or through an intermediary, also incurs in the crime of money laundering and shall be sanctioned with fifteen (15) years to twenty (20) years of imprisonment, who participates in real or simulated acts or contracts that refer to the acquisition, possession, transfers or administration of goods or securities to conceal or simulate assets, products or instruments that proceed directly or indirectly from the crimes of illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, influence peddling, illegal arms trafficking, trafficking in human organs, theft or robbery of motor vehicles, robbery of financial institutions, fraud or financial scams in public or private activities, kidnapping, terrorism and related crimes, or that do not have legal economic cause or justification for their origin.

Upon entering or leaving Honduras, every national or foreign person is obligated to declare and, if requested, to present cash and securities of immediate convertibility that exceed the amount established by the Central Bank of Honduras. Without prejudice to the criminal liability incurred for the crime typified in this Law, non-compliance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall generate ipso facto the seizure by customs officers or employees of undeclared amounts or values, and shall immediately inform the authorities of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The amounts of money or values seized shall be credited or deposited to the order of the OABI.

The crime typified in this Law shall be tried and sentenced by the Judicial Bodies as an autonomous crime separate from any other criminal offense contained in the common law and in special criminal laws. The sanctions imposed in this Law shall also be applicable when its commission is linked with other illicit activities, in which case the guilty party shall be imposed the penalties corresponding to the various infractions.

Public servants who, by taking advantage of their positions, participate in, facilitate or benefit from the development of the criminal activities typified in this Law, shall be sanctioned with the penalty established in Article 3 of this Law, increased by one-third (1/3) and permanent disqualification from the exercise of their position. The penalty indicated in this Article shall also be applied to the legal representatives of juridical persons that in collusion with the aforementioned persons have participated in the commission of this crime.

The author of attempted money laundering and the accomplice of the author of the consummated crime of money laundering shall be sanctioned with the penalty set forth in Article 3 of this Law, reduced by one-third (1/3). The accomplice of the author of attempted money laundering shall be sanctioned with the principal penalty reduced by two-thirds (2/3).

The author of the crime of covering up money laundering shall be sanctioned with the penalty set forth in Article 3 of this Law reduced by one-third (1/3).

Whoever associates or conspires to commit the crime typified in the present Law shall be sanctioned for that act alone with six (6) years to ten (10) years of imprisonment. The promoters, leaders and directors of the association or illegal conspiracy to commit the crimes typified in this Law shall be sanctioned with ten (10) years to fifteen (15) years of imprisonment.

Whoever, through carelessness, negligence, lack of skill or non-compliance with laws or regulations in the exercise of his or her duties, permits the commission of the crime of money laundering, shall be sanctioned with two (2) years to five (5) years of imprisonment.

Independently of the criminal responsibility of its directors, managers or administrators, when the perpetration or facilitation of the crimes typified in this Law constitutes institutional practice of an enterprise, the juridical person shall be sanctioned with permanent closure and a fine of one hundred percent (100%) of the amount laundered. If the criminal acts typified in this Law are committed for the first time, the sanction shall be the fine established in the preceding paragraph, without prejudice to the criminal responsibility of its directors, managers or administrators. CHAPTER IV OF JURISDICTION

It shall be the responsibility of the Public Prosecutor's Office to conduct and direct investigations of the crimes typified in this Law.

To have jurisdiction over and try the crimes typified in this Law, the Judicial Bodies shall be competent. The Peace Courts shall act only in places where the Public Prosecutor's Office does not function, for the sole purpose of receiving reports and conducting urgent proceedings, which shall be forwarded to the Public Prosecutor's Office or to the Superior Judicial Body, as the case may be. CHAPTER V OF PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

When the competent Judicial Body or the Public Prosecutor's Office, as the case may be, becomes aware of any of the facts constituting the crime of money laundering, it shall immediately issue, without prior notification or hearings, orders of attachment, preventive deposit or any other precautionary or protective measure established in national legislation, aimed at preserving the availability of goods, products or instruments of the crimes typified in this Law, which shall be placed immediately to the order of the OABI. If the attachment, preventive deposit or any other precautionary measure regulated in national legislation is ordered by the Public Prosecutor's Office, it shall notify the competent Judicial Body within the following twenty-four (24) hours, explaining the reasons that determined it. The competent Judicial Body in a reasoned order shall ratify or annul wholly or partially what was done.

At the request of a foreign State, the competent Judicial Body may order, in accordance with domestic law, the seizure, precautionary attachment, or forfeiture of property, proceeds, or instruments located within its jurisdiction that are related to the crimes classified in the present Law, which may have been committed in the requesting State, and in other matters shall be governed by the International Conventions on the subject that have been subscribed to and ratified by Honduras.

The competent Judicial Body or the Public Ministry, as applicable, shall return to the claimant the property, proceeds, or instruments when it is proven:

• 1)

  The claimant proves the legal origin and legitimate interest in the property, proceeds, or instruments;

• 2)

  The claimant cannot be charged with any type of participation with respect to the crime that is the subject of the proceeding;

• 3)

  The claimant was unaware, without there being negligence, of the illegal use of the property, proceeds, or instruments, or when having knowledge thereof, did not voluntarily consent to their illegal use;

• 4)

  The claimant has not acquired any right over the property, proceeds, or instruments of the prosecuted person under circumstances that reasonably would have led to establishing that the right over them would have been transferred for the purpose of avoiding precautionary measures or forfeiture; and,

• 5)

  The claimant did everything necessary to prevent the illegal use of the property, proceeds, or instruments. In the case of money, the return shall comprise the principal plus interest calculated at the average capture rate of the national financial system registered by the Central Bank of Honduras in the month prior to the return.

The institutions obligated to comply with the provisions described in Articles 15 and 16 of this Law shall immediately proceed to execute them in those cases in which the property, enterprises, or their holders are fully identified, and in the alternative, prior to identification, shall carry out all necessary measures to ensure the availability of the property, proceeds, or instruments that appear in the name of the persons described in the securing order. In the property registers, both real estate and commercial, as well as in other public or private institutions in which it is necessary to execute the provisions described in Articles 15 and 16 of this Law, no priority shall be alleged to delay or fail to carry out the measure. Any registration made in disregard of what is stipulated in this Article shall be null and void and shall entail administrative liability for the offender.

When forfeiture is ordered, or a securing measure is issued and it is not possible to establish the separation of assets acquired lawfully from those acquired from illicit sources, the competent Judicial Body or the Public Ministry, as applicable, shall order that the measure be taken up to an amount equivalent to the sum of the crime committed.

The Office for Administration of Seized Property (OABI) is created as a department of the Public Ministry, an institution that must make the corresponding budgetary allocation. The OABI shall be responsible for safeguarding and administering all property, proceeds, or instruments of crime that the authority places in its custody. The OABI, prior to a resolution by the Judicial Body or the Public Ministry, as applicable, shall proceed to return the property, proceeds, or instruments to persons who prove the requirements set forth in

of this Law. For the safeguarding and administration of cash assets referred to in the preceding paragraph, the OABI shall make deposits in institutions of the national financial system in accordance with the investment regulations that the Public Ministry previously approves, in which the requirements of security and profitability shall be observed. In the case of movable property, these shall be deposited in a general warehouse of deposits in the hangars or naval bases of the Armed Forces of Honduras when the case so requires. For the strengthening of the OABI, the percentage of resources established in Article 23 and the provisions of Article 40 of this Law shall form part of its budget.

When the precautionary or protective measure falls upon property that is easily deteriorated or destroyed, the OABI shall proceed to its sale at public auction within the twenty-four (24) hours following, and the proceeds from such auction shall be invested in accordance with what is established in the second paragraph of the preceding Article. The notice of the auction referred to in this Article shall be published through a written means of communication, and evidence of such publication shall be kept. If the auction hearing is held and no offers are presented, or for any other reason the sale does not take place, the OABI shall donate the product or products to a public or private charitable institution. A special regulation to be issued for this purpose shall regulate matters relating to the auction and the donation established in this Article.

After three (3) months have passed from the seizure of the property, proceeds, or instruments referred to in this Law, without any person having claimed their return by proving to be its owner, the competent Judicial Body or the Public Ministry shall publish only once in a written newspaper of national circulation the notice of the seizure of such property, proceeds, or instruments, with the warning that if within a period of thirty (30) days no person presents themselves claiming its return, proving to be its owner, they shall be declared in a state of abandonment and consequently the competent Judicial Body or the Public Ministry shall order the OABI to execute any of the following actions:

• 1)

  Transfer the property or sell it, transferring the proceeds of its sale to public entities that participate directly or indirectly in the combat of crimes classified in this Law, preferably to entities in the places where these crimes have been committed;

• 2)

  Transfer the property, proceeds, or instruments, or the proceeds of their sale to any public or private entity dedicated to crime prevention or rehabilitation of offenders, preferably to entities in the places where these crimes have been committed; and,

• 3)

  Enable the forfeited property or the proceeds of its sale to be divided, according to participation, among the States that have facilitated or participated in the investigation or prosecution processes, if there is reciprocity and insofar as it extends. In this case the competent authorities must grant the corresponding permits and register the transfers in the respective registers.

Once the criminal proceeding is concluded, when the judgment is final and orders the penalty of forfeiture, the property shall be sold at public auction, which shall take place fifteen (15) days after its publication in two (2) written newspapers of national circulation. In this case, the proceeds of the sale and the seized money, including bank deposits, securities, and other credits, as well as fines, shall be distributed by the OABI as follows: Up to fifty percent (50%) for the units that have participated in the seizure thereof; if there are several units, the aforementioned percentage shall be divided by the OABI taking into consideration their degree of participation; up to twenty-five percent (25%) for the institutions that work in crime prevention and rehabilitation of offenders; and the remaining percentage shall be allocated to what is stipulated in the third paragraph of Article 20 of this Law.

In those cases in which criminal responsibility is extinguished or when the criminal proceeding terminates without a decision having been rendered regarding the property, proceeds, or instruments derived from the crimes classified in Article 3 of this Law, the Judicial Body that knows of the case shall, ex officio or at the request of the Public Ministry, decree the extinction of the respective title.

Extinction of title shall be understood as the loss of this right for whoever holds the ownership thereof with respect to those property, proceeds, or instruments that come from the crimes classified in this Law or that lack legal cause or justification for their economic origin.

Once the extinction of title is ordered by final judgment, it shall proceed in accordance with what is established in Article 23 of this Law, without any consideration of a counterpart nature.

In order to prevent operations of concealment and mobilization of capital derived from illicit activities and any other transaction aimed at its legitimation, the institutions supervised by the Commission shall be required to comply mandatorily with the following provisions:

• 1)

  They may not open deposit accounts under false names, coded, or any other modality that conceals the identity of the account holder;

• 2)

  They shall fully identify all depositors and clients in general, maintaining updated records of the documents and personal information of each one of them;

• 3)

  They shall adopt reasonable measures to obtain and maintain information about the identity of persons for whose benefit an account is opened, an international transfer is effected, or a transaction is carried out, when there is doubt about whether such clients may or may not be acting in their own benefit, especially in the case of legal entities that do not carry out commercial, financial, or industrial operations in the national territory;

• 4)

  They shall maintain, during the term of any operation, and for at least five (5) years from the conclusion of the transaction, records of the information and documentation required in this Chapter;

• 5)

  They shall maintain records that permit the reconstruction of financial transactions that exceed the amounts established by the Central Bank of Honduras, for at least five (5) years after the transaction is concluded; and,

• 6)

  They shall be subject to the other regulations imposed on them by the present Law and to the regulations that the Central Bank of Honduras and the National Banking and Insurance Commission establish for such purpose.

When the Public Ministry has initiated an investigation to determine the commission of the crimes classified in the present Law and requires information existing in the institutions supervised by the Commission, the UIF shall provide the required information within a period not exceeding twenty-four (24) hours, if it is in its database; in the event that it is not in said database, the UIF shall obtain it directly from the institutions supervised by the Commission within a period that shall not exceed five (5) days, immediately forwarding it to the Public Ministry. If the institution supervised by the Commission does not send the information requested by the UIF, it shall be sanctioned in accordance with numeral 1) of Article 68 of the Law on Financial System Institutions. The other public or private institutions to which the Public Ministry requires information for the purpose of establishing the commission of the crime and its responsibility for the punishable acts regulated by this Law are obligated to provide it within a period not exceeding three (3) days.

Exceptionally, in cases of flagrant delict or when the measure is necessary to prevent the flight of the offender, the disappearance of evidence or proof, or the loss or concealment of property, proceeds, or instruments of the crime of money laundering, the Public Ministry shall obtain directly through the UIF, and the latter in turn from the Compliance Officer or the one designated by the institutions supervised by the Commission, the necessary information to decree the securing measures, with the understanding that such information shall be limited to account numbers and their balances, if any. Said information shall be requested and sent to the Public Ministry immediately, for which purpose the UIF and the institutions supervised by the Commission must have the means that modern technology places at the disposal of society. For the purposes of this Article, the UIF and the institutions supervised by the Commission shall have the necessary personnel available every day during the twenty-four (24) hours.

It is prohibited for institutions supervised and not supervised by the Commission to inform any person of the fact that information has been requested by the competent authority or provided to it. The official or employee of institutions supervised and not supervised by the Commission who fails to comply with the provisions of this disposition shall incur the crime of Breach of Confidence, and shall be punished with three (3) to six (6) years of Imprisonment. Those who, being directors, owners, or legal representatives of said institutions, violate the aforementioned prohibition shall incur equal penalty. CHAPTER X REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS

Institutions supervised by the Commission shall register in a form designed by the Commission each transaction that exceeds the amount established by the Central Bank of Honduras.

The forms referred to in this Chapter shall contain in relation to each transaction, in addition to what is requested by the Commission, at least the following:

• 1)

  The identity number, passport or resident card, if foreign, the signature and address of the person who physically carries out the transaction.

• 2)

  The identity number, passport or resident card, if foreign and the address of the person in whose name the transaction is carried out.

• 3)

  The identity number and address of the beneficiary or recipient of the transaction when applicable;

• 4)

  The identification of the accounts affected by the transaction or transactions, if any;

• 5)

  The type of transaction such as: Deposit, withdrawal of funds, currency exchange, check collection, certified check purchases, cashier's checks or manager's checks, payment orders or other payments or transfers made by any means and other similar transactions.

• 6)

  The identification of the institution or institutions supervised by the Commission in which the transaction or transactions have been carried out;

• 7)

  Name and signature of the employee or official or officials before whom the transaction has been effected; and,

• 8)

  The place, date, time and amount of the transaction.

The records described in this Chapter shall be kept diligently and accurately by institutions supervised by the Commission, and must be completed within five (5) business days from the day the transactions are conducted. Within the first ten (10) days of each month, the records corresponding to the preceding month shall be sent by the supervised institutions to the Commission, retaining a magnetic, photocopied, photographic, microfilm copy or any other means of reproduction thereof for a period of five (5) years.

Multiple cash transactions, whether in legal tender or foreign currency, which together exceed the amount established by the Central Bank of Honduras, shall be considered as a single transaction if carried out by or for the benefit of a specific person during the same banking day, or within any other term established by the Central Bank of Honduras. When the institution supervised by the Commission becomes aware of this type of transaction, it shall immediately register it in the form referred to in this Chapter.

In transfers carried out on own account between institutions supervised by the Commission that exceed the amount established by the Central Bank of Honduras, registration with the form in this Chapter shall be required.

The records established in this Chapter shall be available to judicial bodies, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Commission for use in investigations and criminal, civil or administrative proceedings, as appropriate, with respect to the commission of the crime classified in this Law. CHAPTER XI COMMUNICATIONS ON ATYPICAL TRANSACTIONS

Institutions supervised by the Commission shall give special attention and care to those transactions carried out that are complex, unusual, significant and do not respond to all patterns of habitual transactions and non-significant but periodic transactions that lack an evident economic or legal foundation.

Institutions supervised by the Commission that upon detecting that the transactions described in the preceding Article may constitute or be related to illicit activities shall immediately report it to the UIF, in the form for atypical transactions that the Commission shall prepare for this purpose. The UIF shall immediately report these transactions to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Institutions supervised by the Commission, their officials, directors, owners, authorized legal representatives and employees authorized by Law, are exempt from civil, administrative and penal responsibility, as appropriate; when in compliance with the preceding Article they make such communications. CHAPTER XII SANCTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONS SUPERVISED BY THE COMMISSION

Without prejudice to the criminal responsibility that may be incurred for the crime regulated in this Law, institutions supervised by the Commission that fail to comply with the obligations imposed by this Law shall be sanctioned with a fine of ten (10) to one hundred (100) highest monthly minimum salaries of the zone where the infraction was committed, according to the seriousness thereof, which shall be imposed by the Commission, made effective through the OABI for deposit in the special fund and to comply with the purposes set forth in Article 20 of this Law. The application of this sanction excludes any other when it concerns the same facts. CHAPTER XIII COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS MANDATORY FOR INSTITUTIONS SUPERVISED BY THE COMMISSION

Institutions supervised by the Commission shall adopt, develop and execute programs to prevent and detect the crimes classified in this Law. These programs shall include, at minimum the following:

• 1)

  The establishment of procedures that ensure a high level of personal integrity and a system to evaluate the personal, employment and patrimonial background of its employees, officials, directors, owners or other representatives authorized by law;

• 2)

  Permanent training programs for personnel for full identification of its customers and to instruct them on the responsibilities assigned to them by Law; and 3) An audit mechanism to verify compliance with these programs.

Institutions supervised by the Commission are obligated to designate one or more officials at the Managerial level responsible for overseeing compliance with internal programs and procedures, including the maintenance of adequate records and the reporting of atypical transactions. Such officials shall serve as liaisons with the competent authorities. CHAPTER XIV PROVISIONS FOR OTHER OBLIGATED PARTIES

All provisions relating to institutions supervised by the Commission related to the crime of money laundering shall apply to natural or juridical persons, regular or irregular, not supervised by the Commission that carry out the following activities:

• 1)

  Savings and loan operations;

• 2)

  Systematic or substantial operations in checks or any other title or document representing value;

• 3)

  Systematic or substantial operations carried out in magnetic, electronic, telephonic form or other forms of communication; of issuance, sale or purchase of traveler's checks, postal money orders or any other title or document representing value;

• 4)

  Systematic or substantial transfers of funds;

• 5)

  Any other activity subject to supervision by the Central Bank of Honduras or by the Commission;

• 6)

  Operations carried out in casinos and gambling establishments that function in national territory;

• 7)

  Entities that provide international financial services operating in national territory not subject to supervision by the Central Bank of Honduras or by the Commission; and,

• 8)

  Any other transaction carried out under circumstances or by means now in use or to be used in the future. CHAPTER XV FINANCIAL INFORMATION UNIT AND THE NATIONAL BANKING AND INSURANCE COMMISSION

The Financial Information Unit (UIF) is hereby created, dependent on the Superintendence of Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions at the level of a Division of the Banking Intendancy. In this Unit the Public Prosecutor's Office shall have a permanent representative. The UIF shall have as its objectives the reception, analysis and consolidation of information contained in the forms it receives from institutions supervised by the Commission, handling them through an electronic database. Likewise, the UIF shall be a means for the Public Prosecutor's Office or the competent Judicial Body to obtain the information they consider necessary in the investigation of the crimes classified in this Law. The UIF shall consider all international concepts that exist in the matter taking into account modern and secure techniques, and shall act as a liaison between institutions supervised by the Commission and the authorities responsible for investigation and judgment.

The FIU shall inform the Public Ministry of information that, having been received from institutions supervised by the Commission and that exceed the amount established by the Central Bank of Honduras, has been considered as atypical transactions or activities and that could be related to the crimes defined in this Law, within five (5) days following the date on which it received the information about the activities or transactions. CHAPTER XVI ON INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

The competent judicial bodies, the Central Bank of Honduras, the National Commission of Banks and Insurance, the Public Ministry and the other competent authorities shall cooperate with their counterparts in other countries, taking appropriate measures, in order to provide them assistance in matters related to the crime of money laundering, in accordance with this Law, the conventions, treaties and agreements signed and ratified on this matter within the limits of their attributions, as well as on the basis of the principle of reciprocity. CHAPTER XVII MEANS AND TECHNIQUES OF INVESTIGATION

The Public Ministry may use as essential measures for the investigation of the crime of money laundering, the means and techniques of investigation contained in international conventions signed and ratified by Honduras. CHAPTER XVIII FINAL AND TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

The Central Bank of Honduras is authorized to establish the amount of sums of money in cash, or any other monetary instrument, for registration and notification when transported to or from the Republic of Honduras.

For strict use in the investigation of crimes defined in this Law, the Public Ministry or the competent Judicial Body may request information from entities not supervised by the Commission, regarding atypical economic operations of natural or legal persons. The information obtained shall have the character of confidential and those who violate this prohibition shall be punished with the penalty established in Article 30 of this Law.

This Law has preeminence over any other law that contradicts it or opposes it and constitutes an exception to the general rule established in Articles 956 of the Commercial Code and 39 of the Income Tax Law.

All assets that are subject to precautionary or protective measures pursuant to Decree No. 202-97 dated December 17, 1997, shall be placed at the disposal of the OABI.

All existing information on transactions reported by financial institutions to the Commission shall be included in the database referred to in Article 44 of this Law.

This Law shall enter into force twenty (20) days after its publication in the Official Gazette, repealing as of that date all laws dealing with this same matter. Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Session Hall of the National Congress, on the fifth day of the month of March of two thousand two. PORFIRIO LOBO SOSA PRESIDENT JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ ALVARADO SECRETARY ANGEL ALFONSO PAZ LÓPEZ SECRETARY To the Executive Power. Therefore: Let it be executed. Tegucigalpa, M. D.C., March 26, 2002. RICARDO MADURO JOEST Constitutional President of the Republic The Secretary of State in the Offices of Internal Affairs and Justice. JORGE R. HERNÁNDEZ ALCERRO Published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" Number 29,781 dated Wednesday, May 15, 2002