Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 September 2013
75. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Finance the options that are available to persons who do not have utility bills to prove their address when applying to open a bank account; the acceptable ways to prove a person's address; if an affidavit, letter from the Garda or politician will be accepted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40184/13]
View answerThe customer due diligence requirements are set out in the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 (as amended by the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act 2013). Section 33 of the 2010 Act requires designated persons (such as banks) to apply customer due diligence measures prior to establishing a business relationship with a customer e.g. opening a bank account. The customer due diligence measures require that the designated person must identify and verify the customer’s identity on the basis of documents or information that the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identity of the customer. The 2010 Act does not limit the range of documents or information that a designated person may have reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identity of the customer.
My Department has published Guidelines on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing on the application of the 2010 Act. These guidelines specify a non-exhaustive range of documentation which the bank may choose to accept for the purposes of verifying identity. The range of documentation includes utility bills but also many other types of documentation issued by Government Departments, state agencies and financial institutions. In the event that an individual provides a plausible explanation as to why the suggested documentation cannot be provided, the bank may choose from an additional specified list of methods to assist in confirming the identity of the customer.
Ultimately, it is up to each bank to decide, on a risk based approach, whether it accepts other forms of customer identification. However, there is a clear statement in the draft guidelines to the effect that "where an individual is genuinely not in a position to provide standard evidence of identity it is important that he/she is not prevented from gaining access to the financial system solely due to not being able to produce particular documentation."
