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Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality debate -
Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage

Section 1 agreed to.
NEW SECTION

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 17 of Act of 2010

2. Section 17 of the Act of 2010 is amended by the substitution of the following for

subsection (4):

“ (4) An application for an order under subsection (2)—

(a) shall be made ex parte and shall be heard otherwise than in public,

and

(b) shall be made to a judge of the District Court assigned to the

district in which the order is proposed to be served.”.”.

The purpose of this amendment is to clarify that orders which may be made by a District Court judge under section 17 of the Act of 2010 are ex parte and are not held in public. Section 17 is contained in Part 3 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. The purpose of Part 3 is to provide a mechanism which enables the Garda Síochána to take immediate action to halt a service or transaction where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a particular service or transaction may be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing and enable the Garda Síochána to conduct an investigation.

Section 17 operates in two possible ways. Subsection (1) provides that a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of superintendent may by notice in writing direct a person not to carry out any specified service or transaction for a specified period, which cannot exceed seven days, if satisfied this is necessary to enable preliminary investigation be carried out.

Subsection (2) provides that the judge of the District Court may order a person not to carry out any specified service or transaction for a period not exceeding 28 days, if satisfied by information on oath from a member of An Garda Síochána that there are reasonable grounds for the suspicion and that an investigation is taking place.

Part 3 of the Act of 2010 also provides that a person affected by a direction or order is given notice of such direction or order. Such person may apply to the court for reasonable and other living expenses. I commend the amendment to the committee.

Amendment agreed to.
Section 2, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 3 to 5, inclusive, agreed to.
SECTION 6

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 5, to delete lines 30 and 31 and substitute the following:

“(b) in subsection (6)—

(i) by the substitution of “is, or has become, a politically exposed person” for

“is a politically exposed person”, and

(ii) by the substitution of “subsection (4)(a), (b) and (c)” for “subsection (4)(a)

and (b)”.”.

Section 37 of the Act of 2010 sets out the enhanced customer due diligence or CDD measures to be taken by a designated person in relation to customers who are politically exposed persons. For the purpose of the Act, a politically exposed person is a person residing outside the State who has been entrusted with a prominent, public function at any time in the preceding 12 months. Section 6 of the Bill amends section 37(4) in order to provide that a designated person must also apply such measures to an existing customer, who subsequently becomes a politically exposed person. The purpose of this amendment is to apply the same approach in subsection (6) so that a designated person must apply the enhanced CDD requirements in subsection (4), both when a beneficial owner connected with the customer or services of politically exposed person and if they subsequently become one. I commend the amendment to the committee.

NEW SECTION

Amendment agreed to.
Section 6, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 7 and 8 agreed to.

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 6, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 55 of Act of 2010

9. Section 55 of the Act of 2010 is amended—

(a) in subsection (4), by the substitution of “shall be retained by the designated

person” for “shall be retained by the designated person, at an office or other

premises in the State,”, and

(b) by the insertion, after subsection (7) of the following subsection:

“(7A) The records required to be kept by a designated person under this section may be kept outside the State provided that the designated person ensures that those records are produced in the State to—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána,

(b) an authorised officer appointed under section 72,

(c) a relevant authorised officer within the meaning of section 103, or

(d) a person to whom the designated person is required to produce such

records in relation to his or her business, trade or profession,

as soon as practicable after the records concerned are requested, or where the obligation to produce the records arises under an order of a court made under section 63 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994, within the period which applies to such production under the court order concerned.”.”.

Section 55 of the Act of 2010 contains the record keeping obligations, which apply to designated persons. Section 55(4) provides that such records must be retained at an office or a premises in the State. This is causing difficulties for some sectors, particularly in the financial area, in which companies are often part of a wider international group where the practice may be that documentation such as records are often retained by one member of the group in a particular location. I understand the practice of storing records, particularly electronic records on service in other states, is common in a number of industries. In addition, Ireland is itself a base for the storage of records for a number of multinationals and other companies.

The purpose of the amendment is to provide the flexibility that is required in relation to where records are stored, while also ensuring that the records are readily available to relevant authorities such as the Garda Síochána and competent authorities to carry out their functions and powers.

Amendment agreed to.
Section 9 agreed to.
NEW SECTIONS

Amendment No. 4 is in the name of the Minister. Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 are related and will be discussed together, by agreement.

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 7, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 104 of Act of 2010

10. Section 104 of the Act of 2010 is amended by the substitution of the following for subsection (5):

“(5) The Minister may publish a register in written, electronic or other form and a member of the public is entitled to obtain a copy of a register or of an entry in a register on payment of such reasonable copying charges as may be prescribed (if any).”.”.

These are amendments to sections 104 and 109 of the Act of 2010, which respectively deal with registers for trust or company service providers, TCSPs, and persons directing private members clubs. Chapter 9 deals with the authorisation of TCSPs which fall within my remit as Minister for Justice and Equality under that Act and includes detailed provisions in relation to the granting or refusal of applications for renewals and other related issues.

Section 104 provides that the Minister shall establish and maintain a register of persons authorised under this chapter. Section 104(5) provides that a member of the public is entitled to obtain a copy of the register or of an entry in the register. The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that such information is more readily available to members of the public and will enable the register to be published on the Department's website. It will also enable persons seeking to engage in business with such entities to verify that a business is registered, which I think is particularly important.

Section 109 provides that private members gaming clubs which fall within the definition of designated persons under section 25(1)(h) are required to register with the Minister. Such clubs are monitored for compliance with the money laundering obligations by the anti-money laundering compliance unit in my Department. The purpose of the first part of the amendment to section 109 is to provide public access to the register and as in the case of TCSPs to provide that the register may be published in written, electronic or other form.

The second part of the amendment is to provide for the removal of a club from the register, either at its own request or by the Minister or the anti-money laundering compliance unit, if it is no longer involved in such activities.

I commend the amendments to the committee.

Amendment agreed to.

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 7, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 109 of Act of 2010

11. Section 109 of the Act of 2010 is amended by the insertion after subsection (6) of the following subsections:

“(7) The Minister may publish the register in written, electronic or other form and a member of the public is entitled to obtain a copy of the register or of an entry in the register on payment of such reasonable copying charges as may be prescribed (if any).

(8) The particulars entered in the register pursuant to this section relating to a person who is a designated person pursuant to section 25(1)(h) may be removed from the register where that person ceases to be a designated person pursuant to that provision.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 10 agreed to.
Title agreed to.

I thank the Minister and his officials for attending today.

Bill reported with amendments.
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