1. In use of the supervisory powers legally conferred on Banco de Portugal, namely with regard to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, Banco de Portugal has collected a number of information items that provide strong indication that the companies

• (i) MONEY ONE – SOCIEDADE DE PAGAMENTO E CÂMBIOS, LDA. (having its head office in Avenida Duque de Loulé, n.º 123 – Galeria 5, in Lisbon); and
• (ii) TRANSFEX – INSTITUIÇÃO DE PAGAMENTOS, LDA. (having its head office in Rua da Assunção, n.º 7 – 2.º, in Lisbon)

are being used by individuals directly or indirectly related to the shareholding and/or management structures of these entities, to circulate funds with illicit origin, for the purposes of integrating them into the financial system and, as a result, laundering them.

2. Bearing this in mind and considering the need to safeguard the interests of the users of payment services or other financial services offered by these two payment institutions, on 21 April 2015 Banco de Portugal issued a number of orders addressed to MONEY ONE – SOCIEDADE DE PAGAMENTO E CÂMBIOS, LDA. and to TRANSFEX – INSTITUIÇÃO DE PAGAMENTOS, LDA., imposing on them the full suspension of any operations (remittance of funds from and to foreign countries, foreign exchange or any other operations):

• (i) In the Portuguese territory, acting in their own name or as agents or distributors of payment institutions or electronic money institutions having their head office outside Portugal;
• (ii) Abroad, acting through branches or agents or carrying on business under free provision of services.

3.  The suspension of the operations referred to in 2. above starts on this date and shall prevail until Banco de Portugal informs the payment institutions concerned that all the required conditions are deemed to have been met for this payment institution to restart its activity or until the suspension is replaced by another measure.

4. Refusal to comply with the above orders or creation of any type of obstacles to their enforcement will subject those responsible for such conduct to the penalty applicable to the crime of qualified disobedience, in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article 200-A (1) of the Legal Framework of Credit Institutions and Financial Companies (Regime Geral das Instituições de Crédito e Sociedades Financeiras) (approved by Decree-Law No 298/92 of 31 December 1992).

Lisbon, 22 April 2015