Customer Information Protection: New Regulations Introduced by Financial Authority

Strengthening Customer Information Protection

In an effort to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes, the financial authority has introduced new regulations that require financial institutions to verify the identity of their customers and beneficial owners. These measures aim to strengthen customer information protection and ensure the security of the financial system.

Key Requirements

• Financial institutions must identify every person who acts on behalf of a customer or occasional customer, including authorized agents or representatives.
• Verification of identity using reliable documents, data, or information is required for these individuals.
• Identification and verification of beneficial owners of customers are also mandatory. This includes natural persons with ultimate effective control over legal persons or arrangements.

Preventing Illicit Activities

The new regulations aim to prevent shell companies and other structures used for illicit activities from being used to launder money or finance terrorism. To achieve this:

• Financial institutions must verify the identity of customers that are legal persons or arrangements, including trusts and other types of legal entities.
• Numbered accounts and transactions on fake identity documents are prohibited.

Statement from the Financial Authority

“The new regulations provide an additional layer of protection against money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. We want to ensure that our financial system is secure and that customers can trust their financial institutions,” said a spokesperson for the authority.

Implementation Timeline

The new regulations come into effect immediately, and all financial institutions are required to comply with them.