S.L. 373.1 Art. 7Customer due diligence.  

(1) Customer due diligence measures shall consist in:

(a) the identification of the customer, and the verification of the identity of the customer on the basis of documents, data or information obtained from a reliable and independent source, including, where available, electronic identification means issued under electronic identification schemes, or relevant trust services as set out in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, or any other secure, remote or electronic identification process approved by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit under procedures issued in terms of regulation 17:

Provided that where the customer is a body corporate, a body of persons, or any other form of legal entity or arrangement, subject persons shall also verify the legal status of the customer and shall also identify all directors and, where the customer does not have directors, all such other persons vested with its administration and representation:

Provided further that where the customer is a body corporate, a body of persons or any other form of legal entity incorporated in a Member State or a trust or similar legal arrangement administered in a Member State, that is subject to the registration of beneficial owner information, subject persons shall also obtain proof that such beneficial ownership information has been duly registered with a designated beneficial ownership register.

(b) the identification, where applicable, of the beneficial owners, and the taking of reasonable measures to verify their identity so that the subject person is satisfied of knowing who the beneficial owners are, including, in the case of a body corporate, foundations, trusts and similar legal arrangements, the taking of reasonable measures to understand the ownership and control structure of the customer;

(c) assessing and, as appropriate, obtaining information on the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship, and establishing the business and risk profile of the customer;

(d) conducting ongoing monitoring of the business relationship.

(2) The ongoing monitoring of a business relationship for the purposes of sub-regulation (1) shall consist in:

(a) the scrutiny of transactions undertaken throughout the course of the relationship to ensure that the transactions being undertaken are consistent with the subject person’s knowledge of the customer and of his business and risk profile, including, where necessary, the source of funds; and

(b) ensuring that the documents, data or information held by the subject person are reviewed and kept up-to-date.

(3) Where a person purports to act on behalf of a customer, in addition to identifying and verifying the identity of the customer and, where applicable, the beneficial owner, subject persons shall ensure that such person is duly authorised in writing to act on behalf of the customer and shall identify and verify the identity of that person.

(4) Subject persons shall not keep anonymous accounts or anonymous safe-deposit boxes, or accounts or safe-deposit boxes in fictitious names.

(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of regulation 8, customer due diligence measures shall be applied to all customers AND FUNDING OF TERRORISM when:

(a) establishing a business relationship;

(b) carrying out an occasional transaction; and

(c) the subject person has knowledge or suspicion of proceeds of criminal activity, money laundering or the funding of terrorism, regardless of any derogation, exemption or threshold.

(6) Customer due diligence measures under this regulation shall also be applied, at appropriate times, to existing customers on a risk-sensitive basis and also whenever any of the following circumstances occur:

(a) when the subject person becomes aware that the relevant circumstances surrounding a business relationship have changed; or

(b) when the subject person has a legal duty to contact the customer for the purpose of reviewing and updating any information relating to the beneficial owners, including when the subject person has such a duty in terms of the Cooperation With Other

Jurisdiction On Tax Matters Regulations.

(7) Customer due diligence measures under these regulations shall be repeated whenever, in relation to a business relationship, doubts arise about the veracity or adequacy of the previously obtained customer identification information.

(8) The extent of the customer due diligence measures shall be commensurate to the risks of money laundering and funding of terrorism identified through the risk assessments carried out in terms of regulation 5 and may vary from case to case.

(9) Subject persons providing long-term insurance business shall, in addition to identifying and verifying the identity of the customer and, where applicable, the beneficial owner in terms of sub-regulations (1)(a) and (b), carry out the following customer due diligence measures on the beneficiaries of long-term insurance policies:

(a) where the beneficiaries are specifically named natural persons, legal entities or arrangements, subject persons shall identify such beneficiaries;

(b) where the beneficiaries are designated by characteristics, class or other means, subject persons shall obtain sufficient information concerning those beneficiaries to be able to identify them at the time of payout;

(c) where the beneficiaries assign any of their rights vested under the policy, subject persons shall, at the time of becoming aware of the assignment, identify the natural persons, legal entities or arrangements receiving for their own benefit the value of the policy assigned;

(d) verify the identity of the beneficiaries at the time of payout.

(10) A customer, or any person purporting to act on his behalf, who makes a false declaration or a false representation or who produces false documentation for the purposes of this regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine (multa) not exceeding fifty thousand euro (€50,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(11) Without prejudice to any additional obligation under

Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 31 May 2023 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets and amending Directive (EU) 2015/

849 (recast) or under the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, subject persons carrying out relevant financial business involving the transfer of funds or the transfer of crypto-assets as defined under the said Regulation shall comply with Chapters II, III and V of the said Regulation.