ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has proposed amendments to Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2018 as recommended by FATF.
The SECP on Wednesday said that the amendments had been proposed to further strengthen SECP’s AML/CFT regime.
The proposed amendments elaborate on the Risk Based Approach requiring regulated persons (RPs) including; securities brokers, futures brokers, insurers, Takaful operators, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and Modarabas to conduct risk assessment that is aligned with Pakistan’s latest National Risk Assessment and ensure implementation of Targeted Financial Sanctions.
The minimum information required for the purpose of KYC/CDD has been listed to make documentation requirements simple and clearer.
Moreover, the draft amendments provide more clarity on verification for Beneficial Ownership, close associates and family members of PEPs. The RPs are encouraged to use technological solutions for screening and monitoring of transactions as per best practices.
The SECP has tried to address the regulated sector’s feedback regarding gaps in the implementation of AML/CFT Framework.
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued procedure for opening bank accounts of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and instructed banks to facilitate such persons without compromising due diligence process under anti-money laundering (AML) and counter financing of terrorism (CFT).
The central bank on Wednesday said that in order to ensure fair and equitable treatment of bank’s customers referred to as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), it had devised the following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to facilitate and streamline account opening process without compromising due diligence requirements prescribed under AML / CFT regime:
(i) The bank upon receiving account opening request from PEP shall ensure that the basic requirements like Account Opening Form/Specimen Signature Card and Biometric Verification of the customer are completed on the same day;
(ii) on the same day, the person shall be guided regarding specific requirements / formalities required for opening of an account. Further, the concerned branch shall report the details of the request made by PEP to the focal person nominated by the bank in line with instructions of BPRD Circular Letter No. 27 of 2015;
(iii) within two working days of receipt of documents from PEP, the bank shall inform him / her in writing, the deficiencies, if any, in the documents or further clarifications required;
(iv) once the deficiencies have been removed by PEP and all due diligence requirements have been satisfactorily completed, the account shall be opened by the bank within two working days;
(v) in case the bank decides to refuse any request for account opening, within two working days, the reasons of refusal shall be conveyed in writing to the applicant in line with the instructions of BPRD Circular Letter No. 14 of 2017;
(vi) in line with abovementioned Circular, the bank shall maintain separate files of all approved and rejected cases of PEPs. SBP inspection team during inspection of the bank may review the record especially the rejected cases;
(vii) the bank shall report the following details of rejected cases of PEPs to the Director, Banking Conduct & Consumer Protection Department of SBP on monthly basis within 7 days of the close of every month;
Details of Banking Services / Facilities Refused to PEPs (Politicians only) during the month:
Name & Position of PEP (Politicians Only)
Type of Banking Service / Facility Requested along with the Date
Reasons for Refusal along with the Date of Letter
B. Details of Banking Services / Facilities Refused to PEPs (Other than Politicians) during the month:
Name & Position of PEP (Other than Politicians)
Type of Banking Service / Facility Requested along with the Date
Reasons for Refusal along with the Date of Letter
(viii) Any PEP having grievance / disagreement with bank’s decision may contact the bank’s focal person nominated for the purpose. Banks have already been advised to prominently display the contact details of their and SBP’s focal person for PEP’s at their branches.
(ix) The focal person shall guide PEP and ensure early resolution of the issue in light of applicable policies, rules & regulations.
(x) If the grievance of PEP is not resolved within 15 days after registration of his / her complaint with bank’s focal person or if he / she is not satisfied with the conclusion, then he / she may directly contact the focal person appointed by SBP.
(xi) The bank’s focal person shall maintain a proper MIS for all requests/grievances received from PEPs (allocating unique diary number) in order to monitor its progress at different stages.
(xii) The focal person shall be responsible to facilitate PEPs and monitor the progress of their request.
(xiii) The bank shall provide special assistance to PEPs and treat them with respect and due care during the account opening process.
The SBP advised the banks to immediately disseminate the abovementioned instructions down the line to all of their branches and business locations to ensure compliance of the same in letter and spirit.
Any non-compliance would be strictly dealt with penal provisions of Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962.
ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has conducted an awareness session on Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT) in collaboration with of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), a statement said on Friday.
The SECP said that the awareness session was conducted AML/CFT obligations of non-profit organizations (NPOs) licensed under section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017, for Lahore-based registered intermediaries.
Around 100 participants from the NPO sector, registered intermediaries and ICAP members were in attendance.
An SECP official made a detailed presentation on the AML/CFT regulatory requirements as well as the mechanism for implementation of United Nations Sanctions Regime under resolutions 1267 and 1373 for designation of terrorist organizations and individuals.
The session focused on the relevant recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force as well as findings of the National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment, including directions, channels and sources of terror finance, risk assessment of NPOs, and various policy, legislative and administrative measures for terror financing risk mitigation.
It also helped participants in improving the understanding of suspicious transaction reporting requirements under the AML/CFT framework.
The session also discussed the regulatory measures contained in the regulations for NPOs and intermediaries to prevent money laundering and terror financing abuses, supplemented by the best practices and recommendations contained in the AML/CFT guidelines for NPOs issued by it.
The official emphasized the fact that regulatory action against non-compliant NPOs is a regular feature of the SECP’s enforcement strategy, which will continue in the future.
