Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

PART 3
PREVENTION MEASURES

15.   Customer identity

1.  

   (1)        A financial institution or person engaged in other business activity shall take reasonable measures to satisfy the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity as to the true identity of a person, including a person acting on behalf of another person, seeking to enter into a transaction with or to carry out a transaction or series of transactions with the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity.

1.  

   (Substituted by Act 16 of 2021)

1.  

   (2)   A financial institution or a person engaged in other business activity shall establish and maintain identification procedures that require —

   1.  

      (a)     an applicant for a type of business mentioned in subsection (3) to produce satisfactory evidence of his or her identity, in accordance with the guidance notes, as soon as practicable after first making contact with the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity;

   1.  

      (b)     if satisfactory evidence is not obtained, that the business in question must not proceed any further or, in relation to a type of business mentioned in subsection (3)(d) shall only proceed in accordance with any direction, by the Authority; (Amended by Act 16 of 2021)

   1.  

      (c)     a report to the Authority with respect to a transaction or an attempted transaction where the identity of a person involved in the transaction, attempted transaction or the circumstances relating to the transaction or attempted transaction gives an employee of the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity reasonable grounds to suspect that the transaction or attempted transaction involves funds which are —

      1.  

         (i)     the proceeds of, or

      1.  

         (ii)     used or intended to be used, directly or indirectly by a person for,

   1.  

           money laundering or other criminal conduct.

   1.  

      (Inserted by Act 16 of 2021)

1.  

   (2A)   A financial institution or person engaged in other business activity shall not open, accept or maintain accounts for which the name of the holder or controller of the account is unknown or fictitious.

1.  

   (Inserted by Act 16 of 2021)

1.  

   (3)   This section applies to the following types of business —

   1.  

      (a)     the forming of a business relationship;

   1.  

      (b)     a one-off transaction where payment is to be made by or to the applicant of $8,000 or more; (Amended by Act 16 of 2021)

   1.  

      (c)     two or more one-off transactions that —

      1.  

         (i)     appear to a person handling the transaction on behalf of the regulated institution to be linked, and

      1.  

         (ii)     in respect of which, the total amount payable by or to the applicant is $8,000 or more; (Amended by Act 16 of 2021)

   1.  

      (d)     where in respect of a one-off transaction a person handling the transaction on behalf of the financial institution     or person engaged in other business activity knows or suspects —

      1.  

         (i)     that the applicant is engaged in money laundering, or other criminal conduct regardless of the amount of the transaction, or (Substituted by Act 13 of 2013 and amended by Act 16 of 2021)

      1.  

         (ii)     that the transaction is carried out on behalf of another person engaged in money laundering.

1.  

   (4)   If an applicant for business is introduced to a financial institution or person engaged in other business activity by another financial institution or person engaged in other business activity; a written assurance from the introducing financial institution or person engaged in other business activity to the effect that evidence of the identity of the applicant has been obtained and recorded under procedures maintained by the introducing financial institution or person engaged in other business activity is satisfactory evidence of identity for the purpose of subsection (2).

1.  

   (5)   Where an applicant for business is introduced to a financial institution or person engaged in other business activity by another financial institution or person engaged in other business activity a written assurance must be given that information as to identity will be exchanged in the event that the Authority requests that information to assist in a criminal investigation.

1.  

   (6)   Where a person requests a financial institution or a person engaged in other business activity to enter into a transaction, the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity shall take reasonable measures to establish whether the person is acting on behalf of another person.

1.  

   (7)        Where it reasonably appears to a financial institution or person engaged in other business activity that a person requesting to enter into a transaction is acting on behalf of another person, the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity shall —

   1.  

      (a)     take reasonable measures to establish the true identity of the other person on whose behalf or for whose benefit the person may be acting in the proposed transaction, whether as a trustee, nominee, agent or otherwise;

   1.  

      (b)     request evidence that the person is authorized to act on behalf of the other person in the transaction.

1.  

   (Substituted Act 16 of 2021)

1.  

   (8)   If an applicant for business in a case mentioned in subsection (6) is another financial institution or person engaged in other business activity or a foreign regulated institution, it is    reasonable for the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity to accept a written assurance from the applicant for business to the effect that evidence of the identity of the principal has been obtained and recorded under procedures maintained by the applicant for business. (Amended by Act 9 of 2011)

1.  

   (9)   In determining what constitutes reasonable measures for the purposes of this section, a financial institution or a person engaged in other business activity shall have regard to the guidance notes and all the circumstances of the case and in particular —

   1.  

      (a)     as to whether the person is resident or is a corporate body incorporated in a country in which there are in force provisions applicable to it to prevent the use of a financial institution or a person engaged in other business activity for the purpose of money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing; or (Amended by Act 16 of 2021)

   1.  

      (b)     to custom or practice current to the relevant business.

1.  

   (9A)   A financial institution or person engaged in other business activity shall, on request, submit to the Authority, any information relating to the identity of a person that holds or controls an account, immediately, or in any event, within twenty-four hours of a request for that information, including on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday.

1.  

   (Inserted by Act 16 of 2021)

1.  

   (10)   Nothing in this section requires the production of identity records where —

   1.  

      (a)     the applicant is a financial institution to which this Act applies; or

   1.  

      (b)     there is a transaction or series of transactions taking place in the course of an established business relationship, in respect of which the applicant has already produced satisfactory evidence of identity.

1.  

   (11)   In this section —

“applicant for business” means a person seeking to enter into a transaction, from a business relationship or carry out a one-off transaction, with a financial institution or person engaged in other business activity;

“business relationship” means an arrangement between any person, a financial institution or person engaged in other business activity, the purpose of which is to facilitate the carrying out of financial and other related transactions on a regular basis;

“established business relationship” means a business relationship in relation to which the financial institution or person engaged in other business activity has obtained evidence of identity of the applicant for business regarded by this section;

“one-off transactions” means a transaction carried out other than in the course of an established business relationship.