RRBs Must Follow Updated PMLA Rules on NPOs and Walk-in Customers

RBI/2009-10/293A RPCD.CORRB.AML.BC.No.49/03.05.33(E)/2009-10 January 28, 2010 The Chairman All Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Dear Sir, Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records of the Nature and  Value of Transactions, the Procedure and Manner of Maintaining and Time for Furnishing Information and Verification and Maintenance of Records of the Identity of the Clients of the Banking Companies, Financial Institutions and Intermediaries) Amendment Rules, 2009 - Obligation of Banks / Financial Institutions As you are aware, Government of India vide its Notification No.13/2009/F.No.6/8/2009-ES dated November 12, 2009, has amended the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records of the Nature and Value of Transactions, the Procedure and Manner of Maintaining and Time for Furnishing Information and Verification and Maintenance of Records of the Identity of the Clients of the Banking Companies, Financial Institutions and Intermediaries) Rules, 2005. A copy of the Notification is enclosed for ready reference . 2.  Some of the salient features of the amendment, relevant to RRBs, are as under : *   Clause (ca) inserted in sub-rule (1) of Rule 2 defines "non-profit organization." *  Clause (BA) inserted in sub-rule (1) of Rule 3 requires banks / financial institutions to maintain proper record of all transactions involving receipts by non-profit organizations of value more than rupees ten lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency. *   The amended Rule 6 provides that the records referred to in rule 3 should be maintained for a period of ten years from the date of transactions between the client and the banking company / financial institution. *  A proviso has been inserted in sub-rule (3) of Rule 8, which requires that banks / financial institutions and their employees should keep the fact of furnishing suspicious transaction information strictly confidential. *  Rule 9, now requires banks / financial institutions to verify identity of the non-account based customer while carrying out transaction of an amount equal to or exceeding rupees fifty thousand, whether conducted as a single transaction or several transactions that appear to be connected. *  The amended sub-rule (1) of Rule 9, in terms of clause (b) (ii) requires verification of identity of the customer for all international money transfer operations. *  Proviso to Rule 9(1) regarding the verification of identity of the client within a reasonable time after opening the account / execution of the transaction has been deleted. 3. Accordingly, in view of amendments to the above Rules, RRBs are required to: i)  Maintain proper record of all transactions involving receipts by non- profit organizations of value more than rupees ten lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency and to forward a report to FIU-IND of all such transactions in the prescribed format every month by the 15th of the succeeding month. ii)  In case of transactions carried out by a non-account based customer, that is a walk-in customer, where the amount of transaction is equal to or exceeds rupees fifty thousand, whether conducted as a single transaction or several transactions that appear to be connected, the customer's identity and address should be verified. Further, if a RRB has reason to believe that a customer is intentionally structuring a transaction into a series of transactions below the threshold of Rs.50,000/- the RRB should verify identity and address of the customer and also consider filing a suspicious transaction report (STR) to FIU-IND. 4. RRBs are advised to strictly follow the amended provisions of PMLA Rules  and  ensure meticulous compliance to these Rules. Yours faithfully, (A.K.Pandey) General Manager Notification No.13/2009 - Amendment to Rules

Reproduced for reference with acknowledgment — Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2009-10/293 · issued 28 Jan 2010. The plain-English explanation above is BankPulse’s own independent summary.

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