萬國法律事務所

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (“FSC”) announced Money Laundering Controls Regulations for Financial Institutions on June 20, 2017. The regulations came into force on June 28.

The Bank Bureau of the FSC stated that financial institutions are required to strengthen the verification of the identities of politicians when they open bank accounts, and applications of domestic and international politicians are subject to the approval of the high level supervisor under the new regulations. In addition, financial institutions must re-verify the identities of politicians, their family members, and people familiar with the politicians, and are now obligated to update the relevant information annually.

In order to prevent money laundering, banks are required to acquire more information, including the source of the wealth and capital of clients who pose high risks of money laundering and terrorism. The regulations require such high risk clients to provide substantial information as to the source of their capital. For example, they are required to state that the money is acquired from an investment in real estate or is derived from wage income.

Some additional strict measures will be applied to clients from countries or areas with a high risk of money laundering or terrorism. If a company employs politicians as high level managers, the bank is required to evaluate the influence of that politician on the company’s clients/customers and decide whether to adopt suitable high-intensity verification measures for the company.