Under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 ("the Act"), the person to whom the Deputy refers was granted two applications for authorisation to carry on business as a trust or company service provider under section 89 (6) of the Act on 1 December 2010 and 16 January 2012 for periods of three years, having satisfied the requirements for authorisation under the Act.
It is a matter in the first instance for all designated persons as provided for under section 25 of the Act, including those authorised to carry on business as a trust or company service provider, to apply customer due diligence requirements under the Act in relation to a customer including the identification of any beneficial owner connected with the customer or service concerned, to report suspicious transactions to the Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners, to adopt policies and procedures to prevent and detect the commission of money laundering and terrorist financing and to ensure that other related requirements are met.
It is the function of the State Competent Authority in accordance with Section 63 of the Act to effectively monitor designated persons and take measures that are reasonably necessary for the purpose of securing compliance by those designated persons with the specified requirements in relation to money laundering. To give effect to the role of the Competent Authority under the Act, the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Unit was established in my Department on the enactment of the Act and two authorised officers were appointed under section 72 of the Act.
Under the Act, authorised officers have wide-ranging powers to determine the position with regard to the compliance standing of designated persons including holders of authorisation to carry on business as a trust or company service provider. Since inspections by the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Unit of trust or company service providers commenced, a total of 239 have been inspected by an authorised officer and this includes the trust or company service providers in respect of which the person to whom the Deputy refers is a designated person.
In respect to a list to which the Deputy refers, the following link details the Trust or Company Service Providers that have been authorised by the State Competent Authority:
Trust or Company Service Providers
