Financial Institutions Must Enhance Customer Identification Measures

Suva, Fiji - The Financial Transactions Reporting Act has introduced new guidelines requiring financial institutions to enhance their customer identification measures.

New Guidelines for Customer Identification

The guidelines require financial institutions to verify the identity of customers by obtaining minimum details from a suitable referee. A Certificate/Letter/Confirmation from a suitable referee must have a minimum of six details, including:

• Customer’s name
• Address
• Occupation or nature of self-employment
• Contact details
• Statement confirming customer’s stated address and occupation or nature of self-employment

Alternative Identification Methods

Financial institutions may use other documents to identify and verify customers provided they are:

• Reliable
• Independent
• Reasonably capable of verifying the identity of the customer

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and relevant supervisory authorities may also specify additional documents, data, or information that can be used by financial institutions.

Simplified Identification Requirements

Financial institutions may simplify their customer identification requirements in certain circumstances, such as:

• Where a customer is assessed as having a low risk of engaging in money laundering or terrorist financing activities
  • Customers must still provide minimum details including:
    • Name
    • Permanent residential address in Fiji
    • Occupation

Enhanced Identification Measures

Customers who are assessed as having a high risk of engaging in money laundering and terrorist financing activities must undergo:

• Enhanced identification measures
• Examples of high-risk customers include:
  • Non-resident customers
  • Non-face-to-face customers
  • Persons previously reported in FIU Alert Notices

Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)

Financial institutions are required to treat PEPs as high-risk customers and subject them to enhanced identification checks. Family members and close associates of PEPs must also be treated as high-risk customers and subjected to enhanced identification checks.

Reasonable Measures for Identifying PEPs

Financial institutions must undertake reasonable measures to determine whether a customer is a PEP or associated with one, including:

• Obtaining information on the occupation of a foreigner
• Verifying customer names in databases such as World Check
• Including questions about association with PEPs in account opening forms

Non-Face-to-Face Customers

When establishing a business relationship with non-face-to-face customers, financial institutions must conduct additional identification and verification procedures to supplement those applied to face-to-face customers. These procedures may include:

• Certification of identification documents
• Requesting additional documents to complement those required

Strengthening the Fight Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

The new guidelines aim to strengthen the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in Fiji by ensuring that financial institutions have robust customer identification measures in place.