Financial Crime, Fraud, Terrorism Act 2000, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations

2017.  A notary has statutory and regulatory duties to comply with these and be alert to potential breaches.

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A notary may assess their role as going beyond that of a ‘public certifying officer’ and decide that their role in the underlying transaction/matter is ‘substantive’. If it falls within the scope of the type of work referred to in the regulations an CDD is necessary.

 

 'Know Your Client' (KYC)/Client Due Diligence (CDD) compliance check:

As part of the process to KYC, a risk assessment will always be undertaken regarding the instruction, including a general understanding of the matter or transaction it relates to. We use a third party provider to check the information and documentation you provide us, electronically, against different data sources. We refer to this in our Terms of Business and we will provide you with an guide when acknowledging your instruction.

 

Additional/Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) checks;

• EDD checks using a range of additional sources may be required, again, through a third party provider. This can involve the identity of beneficial owners and sometimes of other people associated with your matter.

•For individuals, companies and other entities who are established abroad, we may carry out EDD even if we are acting within the remit of a 'public certifying officer'.

•Where a regular CDD compliance check is 'non-compliant', EDD is necessary.

•Such checks do not mean you are under suspicion. It is a means of ensuring that we are doing our job to the best of our ability and within the law.

•A record of the CDD/EDD will be kept as part of our records. Whilst this will appear on your credit file it is classed as a ‘soft search’ and so has no affect on your credit score

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Where we assess that this applies to a client, we will provide them with a more detailed guide.

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