Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

These amendments to section 37 provide for enhanced customer due diligence to be carried out in the cases of people who are politically exposed. They deal with the requirements on designated persons to obtain approval from senior management before a business relationship is entered into and established with a politically exposed person and to determine the source of wealth and funds involved in such business or transactions. The amendments have the effect of setting out these provisions more clearly and thereby achieving greater clarity. For this reason, there has been some reordering of section 37(4), which now specifically states that the requirements apply if the person "knows or has reasonable grounds to" know that a person is a politically exposed person. The amendment to section 37(6), which relates to the beneficial owner, reflects the same approach as that in section 37(4). The amendments to section 37(7) specify clearly the circumstances in which a designated person is deemed to know that a person is a politically exposed person for the purposes of sections 37(4) and 37(6) and in which there are reasonable grounds for concluding that the designated person so knows. The amendment to section 37(8)(a) arises essentially from the previous amendments and, for instance, reflects the fact that the determination of the source of wealth and funds is an ongoing responsibility.

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