9911796707
TMI BlogKnow Your Customer (KYC) norms/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT)/Obligation of Authorised Persons under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA), 2002, as amended by Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2009- Cross Border Inward RemittanceX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... order money transfer activities in India, through tie-up arrangements with Overseas Principals. 2. In terms of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA), 2002, as amended by Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2009, all Authorised Persons (APs), authorized under Section 10(1) of FEMA, 1999 , have been brought under the purview of PMLA, 2002. Therefore, detailed instructions on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms/ Anti-Money Launderings (AML) standards/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) in respect of cross-border inward remittance activities, in the context of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations on Anti Money Laundering (AML) standards and on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) have been prescribed. 3. Accordingly, guidelines on obligation of Authorised Persons (Indian Agents), under PMLA, 2002 as amended by Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2009 are given in Annex-I . All Authorised Persons (Indian Agents) should have in place a proper policy framework on 'Know Your Customer', 'Anti-Money Laundering' and Combating the Financing of Terrorism measures with the approval of their Board. 4. These guidelines would als ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aunderers that could alert an institution to criminal activity :- Placement - the physical disposal of cash proceeds derived from illegal activity. Layering - separating illicit proceeds from their source by creating complex layers of financial transactions designed to disguise the audit trail and provide anonymity. Integration - the provision of apparent legitimacy to criminally derived wealth. If the layering process has succeeded, integration schemes place the laundered proceeds back into the economy in such a way that they re-enter the financial system appearing to be normal business funds. 2. The objective The objective of prescribing KYC/AML/CFT guidelines is to prevent the system of cross border inward money transfer into India from all over the world under the MTSS from being used, intentionally or unintentionally, by criminal elements for money laundering or terrorist financing activities. KYC procedures also enable Authorised Persons, who are Indian Agents under MTSS [referred as APs (Indian Agents) hereinafter] to know/understand their customers and their financial dealings better, which in turn help them manage their risks prudently. 3. Money Transf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ngful remitter information (name, address and unique identification number of each remittance like, MTCN) on funds transfer and related messages that are sent and the information should remain with the transfer or related message through the payment chain. A unique reference number, as prevalent in the country concerned, must be included." 3.2 Role of Overseas Principals and Indian Agents (a) Overseas Principal An Overseas Principal is the one that originates a cross-border inward remittance into India as per the order placed by the remitter. The Overseas Principal must ensure that all inward remittances contain complete remitter information. The Overseas Principal must also verify and preserve the information at least for a period of ten years. (b) Indian Agents Indian Agents should have effective risk-based procedures in place to identify cross-border inward remittances lacking complete remitter information. The lack of complete remitter information may be considered as a factor in assessing whether a cross-border inward remittance or related transactions are suspicious and whether they should be reported to the FIU-IND. The Indian Agent should also take up the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Acceptance Policy laying down explicit criteria for acceptance of customers. The Customer Acceptance Policy must ensure that explicit guidelines are in place on the following aspects of customer relationship in the AP (Indian Agent). i) No remittance is received in anonymous or fictitious/benami name(s). ii) Parameters of risk perception are clearly defined in terms of the nature of business activity, location of customer and his clients, mode of payments, volume of turnover, social and financial status, etc. to enable categorisation of customers into low, medium and high risk (APs may choose any suitable nomenclature viz. level I, level II and level III). Customers requiring very high level of monitoring, e.g. Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) may, if considered necessary, be categorised even higher. iii) Documentation requirements and other information to be collected in respect of different categories of customers depending on perceived risk and keeping in mind the requirements of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA), 2002, as amended by Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2009, Prevention of Money-Laundering (Maintenance of Records of the Natur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y requiring intensive 'due diligence' for higher risk customers, especially those for whom the sources of funds are not clear. Examples of customers requiring enhanced due diligence include (a) non resident customers; (b) customers from countries that do not or insufficiently apply the FATF standards; (c) high net worth individuals; (d) politically exposed persons (PEPs); (e) non-face to face customers; and (f) those with dubious reputation as per public information available, etc. d) It is important to bear in mind that the adoption of customer acceptance-policy and its implementation should not become too restrictive and must not result in denial of cross border inward remittance facilities to general public. 5.4 Customer Identification Procedure (CIP) a) The policy approved by the Board of APs (Indian Agents) should clearly spell out the Customer Identification Procedure while making payment to a beneficiary or when the AP has a doubt about the authenticity/veracity or the adequacy of the previously obtained customer identification data. Customer identification means identifying the customer and verifying his/her identity by using reliable, independent source doc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l of the relative with whom the prospective customer is living along with a declaration from the relative that the said person (prospective customer) wanting to undertake a transaction is a relative and is staying with him/her. APs (Indian Agents) can use any supplementary evidence such as a letter received through post for further verification of the address. While issuing operational instructions to the branches on the subject, APs (Indian Agents) should keep in mind the spirit of instructions issued by the Reserve Bank and avoid undue hardships to individuals who are, otherwise, classified as low risk customers. c) APs (Indian Agents) should introduce a system of periodical updation of customer identification data, if there is a continuing relationship. d ) An indicative list of the type of documents / information that may be relied upon for customer identification is given in Annex-II to this Circular. It is clarified that permanent correct address, as referred to in Annex-II, means the address at which a person usually resides and can be taken as the address as mentioned in a utility bill or any other document accepted by the AP for verification of the address of the cu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t of monitoring will depend on the risk sensitivity of the remittance. APs (Indian Agents) should pay special attention to all complex, unusually large receipts and all unusual patterns which have no apparent economic or visible lawful purpose. APs (Indian Agents) may prescribe threshold limits for a particular category of receipts and pay particular attention to the receipts which exceed these limits. High-risk receipts have to be subjected to intense monitoring. Every AP (Indian Agent) should set key indicators for such receipts, taking note of the background of the customer, such as the country of origin, sources of funds, the type of transactions involved and other risk factors. APs (Indian Agents) should put in place a system of periodical review of risk categorization of customers and the need for applying enhanced due diligence measures. Such review of risk categorisation of customers should be carried out periodically. 5.7 Attempted transactions Where the AP (Indian Agent) is unable to apply appropriate KYC measures due to non-furnishing of information and /or non-cooperation by the customer, the AP should not undertake the transaction. Under these circumstances, APs ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a transactions which give rise to a reasonable ground of suspicion that these may involve the proceeds of an offence mentioned in the Schedule to the PMLA, regardless of the value involved. APs (Indian Agents) should, therefore, develop suitable mechanism through appropriate policy framework for enhanced monitoring of transactions suspected of having terrorist links and swift identification of the transactions and making suitable reports to the FIU-IND on priority. b) APs (Indian Agents) are advised to take into account risks arising from the deficiencies in AML/CFT regime of certain jurisdictions viz. Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Sao Tome and Principe, as identified in FATF Statement (www.fatf-gafi.org) issued from time to time, while dealing with individuals from these jurisdictions. 5.11 Principal Officer (a) APs (Indian Agents) should appoint a senior management officer to be designated as Principal Officer. Principal Officer shall be located at the head/corporate office of the AP and shall be responsible for monitoring and reporting of all transactions and sharing of information as required under the law. The Principal Officer should also be responsib ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... maintain the following information in respect of transactions referred to in Rule 3: a. the nature of the transaction; b. the amount of the transaction and the currency in which it was denominated; c. the date on which the transaction was conducted; and d. the parties to the transaction. (iii) Maintenance and Preservation of Record a) APs (Indian Agents) are required to maintain the records containing information in respect of transactions referred to in Rule 3 above. APs (Indian Agents) should take appropriate steps to evolve a system for proper maintenance and preservation of transaction information in a manner that allows data to be retrieved easily and quickly whenever required or when requested by the competent authorities. Further, APs (Indian Agents) should maintain for at least ten years from the date of transaction between the AP and the client, all necessary records of transactions, both with residents and non-residents, which will permit reconstruction of individual transactions (including the amounts and types of currency involved, if any) so as to provide, if necessary, evidence for prosecution of persons involved in crimi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e altogether four reporting formats, as detailed in Annex III, viz. i) Cash Transactions Report (CTR); ii) Electronic File Structure-CTR; iii) Suspicious Transactions Report (STR); and iv) Electronic File Structure-STR. The reporting formats contain detailed guidelines on the compilation and manner/procedure of submission of the reports to FIU-IND. It would be necessary for APs (Indian Agents) to initiate urgent steps to ensure electronic filing of all types of reports to FIU-IND. The related hardware and technical requirement for preparing reports in an electronic format, the related data files and data structures thereof are furnished in the instructions part of the formats concerned. c) In terms of instructions contained in paragraph 5.3(b) of this Circular, APs (Indian Agents) are required to prepare a profile for each customer based on risk categorisation. Further, vide paragraph 5.6, the need for periodical review of risk categorisation has been emphasized. It is, therefore, reiterated that APs (Indian Agents), as a part of transaction monitoring mechanism, are required to put in place an appropriate software application to throw alerts when the transactions are inconsist ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Principal Officer for onward transmission to the FIU-IND. B) Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) i) While determining suspicious transactions, APs (Indian Agents) should be guided by definition of suspicious transaction contained in PML Rules, as amended from time to time. ii) It is likely that in some cases, transactions are abandoned/ aborted by customers on being asked to give some details or to provide documents. It is clarified that APs (Indian Agents) should report all such attempted transactions in STRs, even if not completed by customers, irrespective of the amount of the transaction. iii) APs (Indian Agents) should make STRs if they have reasonable ground to believe that the transaction, including an attempted transaction, involves proceeds of crime generally irrespective of the amount of transaction and/or the threshold limit envisaged for predicate offences in part B of Schedule of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA), 2002, as amended by Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2009 . iv) The Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) should be furnished within 7 days of arriving at a conclusion that any transaction, including an attempted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... money laundering, provisions of the PMLA and the need to monitor all transactions to ensure that no suspicious activity is being undertaken under the guise of remittances. Training requirements should have different focuses for frontline staff, compliance staff and staff dealing with new customers. It is crucial that all those concerned fully understand the rationale behind the KYC policies and implement them consistently. The steps to be taken when the staff come across any suspicious transactions (such as asking questions about the source of funds, checking the identification documents carefully, reporting immediately to the Principal Officer, etc.) should be carefully formulated by the APs (Indian Agents) and suitable procedure laid down. The APs (Indian Agents) should have an ongoing training programme for consistent implementation of the AML measures. c) Hiring of Employees It may be appreciated that KYC norms/AML standards/CFT measures have been prescribed to ensure that criminals are not allowed to misuse the system of money transfer under MTSS. It would, therefore, be necessary that adequate screening mechanism is put in place by APs (Indian Agents) as an integral pa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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