Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 May 2018
285. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce or extend existing anti-money laundering regulations to those companies providing secretarial services or independent trust and corporate services providers which are used to hide beneficial ownership of many companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23487/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraCompanies providing secretarial services or independent trust and corporate services providers are considered ‘designated persons’ under Section 25(1)(e) of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended, and are therefore subject to anti-money laundering regulations. The 2010 Act obliges specific types of business to conduct customer due diligence (CDD) on their customers so as to satisfy themselves as to the true identity of the customer and the source of the funds being used by the customer, and to report any suspicions to An Garda Síochána and the Revenue (Suspicious Transaction Report or STR).
Designated persons will be subject to further obligations with the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2018 which is currently at second stage in the Houses of the Oireachtas. This Act will transpose the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive which imposes additional requirements on designated persons, in particular, to assess the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing and ensure policies are in place to mitigate the assessed risk.
