Terence Flanagan
Question:75. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding bank accounts (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12468/15]
View answerThursday, 26 March 2015
Questions (75)
Written answers
It is a matter of good commercial practice that any firm should know its customers. It is particularly important that a financial institution confirms the identity of their customers because financial institutions often undertake high value transactions on behalf of their customers. In addition, EU directives require that financial institutions ascertain the identities of their customer in order to prevent the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Section 33 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended, sets out the requirements in relation to customer due diligence ('CDD'). Pursuant to section 33, designated persons are required to identify the customer and verify the customer's identity on the basis of documents (whether or not in electronic form) or information, that the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identity of the customer. The Central Bank does not prescribe what documents or information designated persons should obtain from a customer in order to satisfy the requirements of section 33. This is a matter for each designated person to determine.
General Principle 2.11 of the Consumer Protection Code 2012 (the CPC) provides that '[a] regulated entity must ensure that in all its dealings with customers and within the context of its authorisation it: without prejudice to the pursuit of its legitimate commercial aims, does not, through its policies, procedures, or working practices, prevent access to basic financial services'.
Guidelines on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing are available on my Department's website at http://www.finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Criminaljustice2012.pdf. Appendix 2 of these guidelines is a non-exhaustive and non-mandatory list of alternative documents that can be used to verify identity in circumstances where a prospective customer cannot, for justifiable reasons, meet the standard identification and verification requirements, or has experienced difficulties in the past when seeking to open accounts. I would advise this individual to examine this list to see how he can meet identification requirements and then approach the financial institution again.
If an individual is not happy with the way that a regulated financial institution has treated them, they can make a complaint to the institution. If they are not happy with the outcome of the complaint made they can refer the matter to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO). Further information on how to make a complaint to the FSO is available at www.financialombudsman.ie. The FSO can investigate, mediate and adjudicate on complaints made about the conduct of regulated financial service providers involving a failure or refusal to provide a service.