Identification and verification using eIDs
As everyone is aware, financial companies are required to conduct customer due diligence (CDD) to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism. An important part of the CDD process is identifying the customer and verifying his or her identity.
The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft) and the Wwft Implementation Regulations prescribe what data can be used for this verification. Until recently, this could only be done based on proof of identification, such as a passport, identity card or driving licence. Since 21 May 2020, however, a new source has been added to the Wwft Implementation Regulation, namely a sufficiently reliable means of identification. We hear you thinking: “What is that supposed to mean again?” Well, a sufficiently reliable means of identification is one that meets the ‘substantial’ or ‘high’ level of reliability referred to in the eIDAS Regulation. Well-known examples are the Dutch iDIN and the Belgian itsme. With these methods, it is no longer necessary to request and store a copy of your passport. Of course, using iDIN and itsme has already been available for some time in Blanco’s Onboarding Module, allowing you to identify your clients and verify their identity in accordance with the law. It is of course still possible to use a passport (as well) if you still wish; perhaps because you also need other passport details such as the document number for a MiFIR transaction report. With the integrated Mitek solution, your client can take a photo of their identity document and a selfie, which will be used to verify their identity. This allows you to tailor the onboarding process to your own CDD policy!
The Dutch UBO register approaches
At the end of June 2020, the Senate adopted the Implementation Act for the Dutch UBO register. The UBO register stems from the European 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive and makes who the ultimate owner of, or who has ultimate control over, a legal entity transparent. As of 27 September 2020, some 1.5 million Dutch companies will be obliged to register their beneficial owners with the Chamber of Commerce within one and a half years. The obligation to register UBOs applies to many legal entities, but not, for example, to sole proprietorships or listed companies.
Anyone can inspect the UBO register by requesting an extract from the Chamber of Commerce. Not all of the UBO data is visible in this extract; only competent authorities, such as the AFM, have insight into all data included in the UBO register.
It goes without saying that Blanco will investigate whether the Chamber of Commerce link in the Onboarding Module can be extended with the UBO register. At this moment, the Chamber of Commerce has not provided any information regarding this. We will keep you informed!
