Customer Due Diligence and complying with Anti-Money Laundering Regulation in Ireland

Customer Due Diligence (CDD) is a critical process that helps businesses in Ireland comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) regulations. The requirement to comply with CDD legislation is prescribed by a number of Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts in Ireland and a series of European Union Anti-Money Laundering Directives that have been transposed into law.

What does it mean for my company and doing business in Ireland?

In practical terms, a company that wishes to conduct business in Ireland and/or contract with Irish companies will be required to present CDD to service providers, suppliers, banks, trade partners and other engagements. The prescribed legislation sets out the broad scope of what money laundering and terrorist financing can encompass and sets out the scope of reporting required.

A designated person within an Irish organisation is required to oversee the collection and review of CDD. This designated person (typically part of a compliance, legal or governance team), takes a risk-based approach to companies in scope and are required to take steps to identify key officers/stakeholders within an engagement in addition to beneficial owners and identifying politically exposed persons (PEPs).*

In practice, an Irish engagement or company would be required to provide documentation including but not limited to the below:

• Certified passports and certified proof of address (utility bill dated within the last three months) for any directors of the Company
• Certified structure chart of the Company or group of companies
• Certified passport and proof of address for any beneficial owners of the Company, with a business CV or other supporting documentation may be required

In the background, the designated person for the Irish Company conducts a risk assessment (based on a variety of geographic and industry metrics), completes sanction and PEP screening reviews and verifies that no further or enhanced due diligence is required. Once this review process has been completed in line with internal policy sign off and appropriate record keeping requirements, the engagement can be considered fully onboarded.

The information gathered as part of this process is required to be held securely and is not available to or on public record, being the remit of law enforcement and other designated statutory bodies only. Based on the risk level, a review of the documentation held, and the target company will be conducted on a rolling basis, e.g. every 1, 3 or 5 years.

 

*A Beneficial Owner can be considered any individual who owns or controls more than 25% of the share capital or voting rights of a Company (bank requirements can vary) & a politically exposed person (PEP) is a person holding a prominent public position and/or their families/close associates.