In Malaysia, the primary piece of legislation with regard to anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing is the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (“AMLA Act”) The introduction of the AMLA Act serves to impose criminal sanctions upon any person involved in proceeds derived through illegal or illicit means. The AMLA Act defines the offences of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and sets out the measures that must be taken to detect and prevent those criminal activities.
In 2019, the Anti-Money Laundering, Countering Financing of Terrorism and Targeted Financial Sanctions for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions & Non-Bank Financial Institutions was issued by the Malaysian Central Bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”), which includes, amongst others, reporting obligations of registered estate agents.
As one of the larger real estate players in Malaysia, IQI has always strive to ensure that all transactions carried out by our negotiators are transparent and legally compliant, to better protect our customers and negotiators. We acknowledge that the awareness on the need for customer due diligence checks may not be as widespread as we would like at this point in time, but we are committed to do what we can to combat money-laundering and terrorism financing.
If you have been requested by our negotiator to furnish certain documents for due diligence purposes, we seek your kind co-operation to provide the same. Below are some common FAQs which we hope could help ease your anxiety in disclosing personal information to our negotiators.
The applicable AML/CFT Policy Document at the time of writing is the Anti-Money Laundering, Countering Financing of Terrorism and Targeted Financial Sanctions for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) & Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), which was issued by the Bank Negara Malaysia in English and Malay.
Under the BNM Policy Document and the Guidance document (which can be found here) (“Guideline”), CDD is a process which involves identifying and verifying the identity of customers as well as understanding the purpose and nature of business relationship.
Under the Guidelines, it is mandatory for the following verification to be conducted:
Source: Paragraph 3.1 of the Guideline
Under the FAQ on Implementation Guidance provided by BNM (found here), CDD is carried out at the following stages:
Yes. Although we do understand that some customers may have reservations in providing personal information to our RENs, we do seek your co-operation as the information is collected pursuant to the Policy Document and Guidance. For individuals, the minimum list of identification information is as follows:
Source: Paragraph 3.3 of the Guidance
Under the BNM Policy Document, both the person conducting or acting on behalf of the customer, as well as the customer will have to provide information for CDD.
Under the Guideline, we are required to verify the identity of our customers although there is no restriction on the form of evidence to be taken to verify the customer’s identity. To this end, we seek all our customers’ cooperation in providing to our negotiators a copy of your identification document (marked ‘for IQI CDD use only’). Some examples of reliable identification documents provided by BNM is reproduced below.
Source: Paragraph 5.4 of the Guidance
We acknowledge that it may be daunting to be disclosing personal or corporate information, but please understand that the information collected is pursuant to the minimum requirements as set out by BNM. However, we urge the general public to understand that in the event the refusal to provide CDD information is not based on any reasonable concern, such refusal to cooperate may be regarded by the authorities as a ‘red flag’.
As a general precaution, we would advise all our customers to strikethrough the corners of the copies of NRIC and mark as ‘for IQI CDD use only’. When doing so, please ensure that the NRIC number and name is clear and readable.
As a general precaution, we would advise all our customers to strikethrough the corners of all documents containing personal or corporate information and mark as ‘for IQI CDD use only’. When doing so, please ensure that the important information in the documents is still clear and readable.
Rest assured, all data collected for CDD purposes will be dealt with in accordance with the requirements under the relevant personal data protection laws.
The short answer to this would be no. As at the date of publication of this FAQ, based on Section 20 of the AMLA Act (reproduced below for ease of reference), the obligations under Part IV of the AMLA Act (Reporting Obligations), is effective and applicable notwithstanding any other restrictions on disclosure of information imposed by any written law (including the PDPA 2010). This has also been clarified by BNM after our discussions.
The provisions of this part shall have effect notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction on the disclosure of information imposed by any writtern law or otherwise.
