ISLAMABAD: The government has draft law to examine involvement of money laundering and terror financing in investment made in national saving schemes.

The ministry of finance on Thursday issued draft rules namely National Saving Schemes (AML and CFT) Rules, 2019.

Under the draft rules, the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) would conduct customers due diligence (CDD) of all the customers / investors.

“Every customer, whether permanent or occasional and whether natural or legal person or legal arrangement, shall be identified for establishing business relationship and for the purpose following information shall be obtained, verified using reliable, independent source documents, data or information and recorded namely: –

(a) full name as per identity or registration documents;
(b) national identity card, passport, national identity card for overseas pakistanis, Pakistan origin card or alien registration card number, etc.
(c) registration or incorporation number of business, if applicable;

(d) residential address, telephone numbers and e-mail, if available;

(e) business address, telephone numbers and e-mail, if available;

(f) date of birth;

(g) date and place of registration or incorporation of business, if applicable;

(h) nationality

(i) place of birth;

(j) national tax number (NTN), if applicable;

(k) nature of business and location, if applicable;

(l) sources of earnings;

(m) customer’s net worth in respect of legal persons, legal arrangements and high risk customers; and

(n) annual income

The minimum set of documents to be obtained by the office of issue or third party in case of each category of customers shall be as follows:-

(a) In respect of individuals, a photocopy of any one of the following valid identity documents namely:-

(i) computerized national identity card (CNIC) issued by NADRA; or

(ii) national identity card for overseas Pakistani (NICOP) issued by NADRA; or

(iii) Pakistan origin card (POC) issued by NADRA; or

(iv) alien registration card (ARC) issued by NADRA; or

(v) passport having valid visa on it or any other proof of legal stay along with passport in respect of foreign national individuals only.

(b) In respect of limited corporations and companies.-

(i) certified copies of-

(A) resolution of board of directors for opening of account specifying the persons authorized to open and operate the account (not applicable for single member company);

(B) memorandum of association;

(C) articles of association, wherever applicable;

(D) certificate of incorporation;
(E) Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered declaration for commencement of business as required under the Companies Act, 2017 (XIX of 2017); and

(F) list of directors required to be filed under the Companies Act, 2017 (XIX of 2017), as applicable;

(ii). photocopies of identity documents as per sub-clause (b) of all the ` directors and persons authorized to open and operate the account;

(c) In respect of trust clubs, societies and associations, etc.-

(i) Certified copies of-

(A) certificate of registration or instrument of trust; and

(B) by-laws, rules and regulations;

(ii) resolution of the governing body, board of trustees or executive committee, if it is ultimate governing body, for opening of account authorizing the person to operate the account;

(iii). photocopy of identity document as per sub-clause (i) of clause (c) of the following:

(A) authorized persons;

(B) members of governing body, board of trustees or executive committee, if it is ultimate governing body; and

(C) settlor, the trustees, the protector if any, the beneficiaries or class of beneficiaries

(d) In respect of NGOs, NPOs and charities,-

(i) certified copies of –

(A) registration documents and certificates; and

(B) by-laws, rules and regulations;

(ii) resolution of the governing body, board of trustees or executive committee, if it is ultimate governing body, for opening of account authorizing the persons to operate the account;

(iii) photocopy of identity document as per sub clause (i) of clause (d) above of the authorized persons and of the members of governing body, board of trustees or executive committee, if it is ultimate governing body; and

(iv) any other documents as deemed necessary including its annual accounts and financial statements or disclosures in any form which may help to ascertain the detail of its activities, sources and usage of funds in order to assess the risk profile of the prospective customer;

(e) In respect of minor accounts,-

(i) photocopy of Form-B or birth certificate of the minor; and

(ii) photocopy of identity document as per sub-clause (i) above of the guardian of the minor;

(f) In respect of government institutions and entities not covered herein above.-

(i) CNICs of the authorized persons; and

(ii) letter of authorization from the concerned authority.

the office of issue or third party shall verify identity documents of the customers from relevant authorities and bodies, including through NADRA’s verification system or biometric identification system and, where necessary, use other reliable, independent sources and retain copies of all reference documents used for identification and verification.
The office of issue or third party shall be responsible for verification of the identity documents and the customer shall neither be obligated nor the cost of verification be charged to the customer.

Where the customer is represented by an authorized agent or representative, or where customer is a legal person, the Office of issue or third party shall identify the natural persons who act on behalf of the customer and verify the identity of such persons and the authority of such natural persons shall be verified through documentary evidence, including specimen signature of the persons so authorized.

Where beneficial owner is different from the customer, the office of issue or third party shall identify and take reasonable measures to verify identity of the beneficial owners using relevant information or data obtained from a reliable source, to the satisfaction of the office of issue.

The verification of the identity of customers and beneficial owners, if any, shall be completed before business relations are established.

The office of issue shall conduct ongoing due diligence on the business relationship, including;-

(a) scrutinizing transactions undertaken throughout the course of that relationship to ensure that the transactions being conducted are consistent with the office of issue’s knowledge of the customer, their business and risk profile, including where necessary, the source of funds; and

(b) ensuring that documents, data or information collected under the CDD process is kept up-to-date and relevant, by undertaking reviews of existing records, particularly for higher risk categories of customers.

The office of issue or third party shall maintain a list of all such customers and accounts where the business relationship needed to be closed on account of negative verification that includes all type of customer identity verification such as NADRA, UNSCR or any other document or information etc.