Singapore legislation
Regulation 21
Regulation 21
Identification and verification of identity of beneficial owners
Subregulation 1
Subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), a registered corporate service provider (X) must inquire if there exists any beneficial owner in relation to the customer.
Subregulation 2
Where X becomes aware pursuant to the inquiry or otherwise that there is one or more beneficial owners in relation to the customer, X must identify the beneficial owners and take reasonable measures to verify the identity of every beneficial owner using reliable and independent sources.
Subregulation 3
Where the customer is a body corporate or unincorporate, or a legal arrangement, X must take reasonable measures to understand the nature of the customer’s business and ownership and control structure of the body corporate or unincorporate, or the legal arrangement, as the case may be.
Subregulation 4
Where the customer is a body corporate, X must identify the beneficial owners of the body corporate by —
identifying the natural persons (whether acting alone or together) who ultimately own all the assets or undertakings of the body corporate;
to the extent that there is doubt under sub‑paragraph (a) as to whether the natural persons who ultimately own all the assets or undertakings of the body corporate are the beneficial owners or where no natural persons ultimately own all the assets or undertakings of the body corporate, identifying the natural persons (if any) who have ultimate control or ultimate effective control over the body corporate; and
where no natural persons are identified under sub‑paragraph (a) or (b), identifying the natural persons having executive authority in the body corporate, or in equivalent or similar positions.
Subregulation 5
Where the customer is a legal arrangement, X must identify the following persons:
for an express trust — the settlor, the trustees, the protector (if any), the beneficiaries or class of beneficiaries, and any natural person having ultimate ownership of the assets or undertakings of the trust, or exercising ultimate control or ultimate effective control over the trust (including through a chain of control or ownership or both);
for any other type of legal arrangement — the persons in equivalent or similar positions, as those described in sub‑paragraph (a).
Subregulation 6
X need not inquire if there exists any beneficial owner in relation to a customer where the customer is —
an entity listed on the Singapore Exchange;
an entity listed on a stock exchange outside Singapore that is subject to —
regulatory disclosure requirements; and
requirements relating to adequate transparency in respect of its beneficial owners, imposed through stock exchange rules, laws or other enforceable means;
a Singapore financial institution;
a financial institution incorporated or established outside Singapore that is subject to and supervised for compliance with requirements for the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, consistent with the standards set by the FATF; or
an investment vehicle, the managers of which are —
Singapore financial institutions; or
financial institutions incorporated or established outside Singapore that are subject to and supervised for compliance with requirements for the prevention of money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing, consistent with the standards set by the FATF,unless X has doubts about the veracity of the information obtained in carrying out CDD measures under this Part or suspects that the customer is carrying out or facilitating money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing.
Subregulation 7
Where the customer represents that it is a Singapore government entity, X —
must obtain and record the information that is required to confirm that the customer is a Singapore government entity as asserted; and
need not inquire if there exists any beneficial owner in relation to the customer if X has obtained the required information mentioned in sub‑paragraph (a).
Subregulation 8
For the purposes of paragraphs (6) and (7), X must keep a written record of the basis for its determination that a customer is of a type specified in those paragraphs.