Singapore legislation
Regulation 5
Regulation 5
Customer due diligence measures for client that is entity or legal arrangement or acting on behalf of entity or legal arrangement
Subregulation 1
This regulation applies where a client is, or where a client is acting on behalf of, an entity or a legal arrangement.
Subregulation 2
A responsible person must identify and verify the identity of the entity or legal arrangement by obtaining the following information:
the name of the entity or legal arrangement;
the legal form of the entity or legal arrangement;
proof of the existence of the entity or legal arrangement;
the instrument under which the entity or legal arrangement is constituted;
in the case of an entity — the identity of each director of the entity, or the most senior executive or managing officer of the entity;
the address of the registered office of the entity or legal arrangement and its principal place of business.
Subregulation 3
Without affecting paragraph (2), a responsible person must —
understand the nature of the business of the entity or legal arrangement; and
understand the ownership and control structure of the entity or legal arrangement.
Subregulation 4
A responsible person must identify each beneficial owner of the entity or legal arrangement and take reasonable measures to verify the identity of each beneficial owner by obtaining the following information:
in the case of an entity —
the identifying information of each individual (if any) who ultimately has a controlling ownership interest in the entity, according to the law and instrument under which the entity is constituted;
if it is doubtful whether all or any of the individuals who ultimately have a controlling interest in the entity are its beneficial owners, or where no individual exerts control through ownership interests, the identifying information of each individual (if any) exercising control of the entity through other means; or
if no individual is identified under sub‑paragraphs (i) and (ii), the identifying information of each individual having a senior management position in the entity;
in the case of a legal arrangement —
in any case where the legal arrangement is a trust, the identities of —
the settlor;
each trustee;
the protector (if any);
each beneficiary or class of beneficiaries; and
any other individual exercising ultimate effective control over the trust; or
in any case where the legal arrangement is not a trust, the identity of each person holding a position equivalent or similar to any position in sub‑paragraph (i).
Subregulation 5
A responsible person must take reasonable measures to determine whether each beneficial owner (if any) of the entity or legal arrangement is a politically‑exposed person, or a family member or close associate of a politically‑exposed person.
Subregulation 6
Despite paragraphs (2), (3), (4) and (5), a responsible person need not perform the customer due diligence measures mentioned in those paragraphs if the responsible person verifies that the entity is an Organ of State, a Ministry or a department of the Government, or a statutory board.