Prudential Authority directive to assist in combating money laundering and terrorist financing activities
Directive issued by the Prudential Authority to assist in further combating money laundering and terrorist financing activities
On 15 December 2022 the Prudential Authority (PA) issued a directive which requires all life insurance companies under the PA’s supervision to obtain certain identity documents for all beneficiaries of life insurance policies. The PA deems it necessary to incorporate beneficiaries as a risk factor for money laundering and terrorist financing.
Identification particulars of beneficiaries must be obtained to determine if a beneficiary is a Domestic Politically Exposed Person (DPEP) or Foreign Politically Exposed Person (FPEP), or if such person is listed on any targeted financial sanctions lists or has appeared in any adverse media. It is the responsibility of a life insurance company, and other accountable institutions, to obtain particulars of the beneficiary(ies) of life insurance policies as soon as a beneficiary is identified, designated, or amended by a customer.
As an accountable institution, Just SA must perform customer due diligence both at the beginning of the customer relationship and for as long as the relationship exists. Customer due diligence refers to the process of analysing information about an individual or legal person from multiple sources. This means that to perform adequate due diligence, Just SA must collect and evaluate specific information to ensure that its customers are who they say they are. This includes the following:
- Verifying the identity of an individual and their address or location
- Monitoring transactions
- Developing a risk rating scheme to categorise our clients
- Checking data against third party data sources
- Identifying whether a client is on a sanctions list or has appeared in any adverse media
- Identifying whether a customer is a DPEP or FPEP
Just SA will implement suitable solutions to comply with this directive. Just SA supports the Financial Intelligence Centre to combat money laundering and terrorist financing activities.