Compliance

KYC & Counterparty Policy

Version 1.0 Effective 11 September 2026 Reviewed annually

Standard the group holds itself to. This policy sets out the KYC programme the group commits to operate. Where a specific control described below is under implementation, this is disclosed in our annual compliance report. Counterparties may request the current implementation status of any control by writing to kyc@fontana.trade.

Fontana Trading Europe, Sociedade Unipessoal Lda. and its subsidiaries operate a Know Your Counterparty ("KYC") programme designed to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions violations, tax evasion, trade-based fraud and reputational damage. This policy sets out the checks we run, the documentation we require, and the escalation path when a match or concern is found.

It draws on the EU Anti-Money Laundering framework (Directive (EU) 2015/849 as amended, currently transitioning to Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and Directive (EU) 2024/1640), the Portuguese Lei nº 83/2017, the UK Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

1. Scope

Every party that Fontana buys from, sells to, invoices, pays, receives from, or acts as broker or agent with must be onboarded through this procedure. That includes:

No cargo is loaded, no invoice is raised and no payment leaves the group until the counterparty has been onboarded and cleared.

2. Risk classification

Every counterparty is scored on a three-tier risk model at onboarding. Score drives the depth of due diligence and the frequency of re-screening.

TierTriggersDue diligenceRe-screening
Low Public company or subsidiary of one, headquartered in an FATF-compliant jurisdiction, transparent ownership, no sanctions or adverse media hits Simplified: incorporation, officers, bank ref, sanctions screen Annual, or on material change
Medium Private company with clear ownership; jurisdiction not on FATF grey/black list; contract value below US$5m per cargo Standard: full onboarding pack (§3) plus beneficial ownership statement Every 12 months, or on ownership change
High Any of: PEP involvement, opaque ownership, FATF grey/black jurisdiction, cash-intensive counterparty, first trade over US$10m, complex payment routing, prior sanctions or corruption findings against related parties Enhanced due diligence (§4). Head of Compliance and CEO must both sign off Every 6 months plus event-driven

3. Standard onboarding pack

Every counterparty submits, in English or Portuguese:

Fontana then runs sanctions screening (see the Sanctions Policy), adverse media screening across at least four independent sources, and, for medium and high tier, PEP screening.

4. Enhanced due diligence (High tier)

In addition to §3:

5. Ongoing monitoring

Onboarding is not a one-off event. During the life of the relationship we monitor:

6. Escalation and decline

Any of the following triggers immediate escalation to the Head of Compliance:

The Head of Compliance is authorised to freeze the onboarding process, suspend a live contract, or terminate a counterparty relationship without commercial escalation. Decline decisions are recorded with reasons and retained for 5 years.

7. Records and audit

KYC records are retained for 7 years after the counterparty relationship ends, or longer where required by tax or regulatory law. Records are available for inspection by external auditors, regulators, correspondent banks and buyers conducting supply-chain due diligence, subject to confidentiality undertakings.

8. Governance

The Head of Compliance owns this policy and reports to the CEO. Material changes require CEO sign-off. All staff who onboard, negotiate with, invoice or pay counterparties complete KYC training on joining and annually thereafter, evidenced by a signed attestation.

For counterparties: if you are being onboarded, our commercial team will send you a KYC pack matching your risk tier. Documents should be returned in English or Portuguese; translations of certificates in other languages must be certified. If you have questions about our procedure, contact kyc@fontana.trade.