Updated law of Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) as to informing AMLO is required when there is outward remittance for THB 50,000 or more
On 1 October 2019, the Cabinet passed the resolution on principles of the draft of Ministerial Regulation on examination of customer’s facts B.E… as proposed by AMLO. This draft has been submitted to the Office of the Council of State for consideration.
The main essence of this draft is as follows:
- Definition of “customer”, “persons who agree legally and mutually”, “business relationships”, “occasional transactions”, etc. shall be added.
- Financial Institutions and a person who is engaged in a business of operating under Anti-money laundering law, such as hire-purchase, credit card, non-bank electronic payment (collectively called “Business Persons”) shall estimate risk on money laundering and realize risk factors of customers, products, service, transactions or service provision channels.
- Financial Institutions and Business Persons shall verify customer identification, make understanding of customer business, including management structure and power to control a juristic person.
- Financial Institutions and Business Persons shall examine a customer who has the most highly concentrated risk and who makes high risk on occasional transactions. If the customer may cause Financial Institutions and Business Persons to be used as money laundering tools, Financial Institutions and Business Persons shall refuse to make transactions with the customer and shall report to AMLO.
- Financial Institutions and Business Persons can lower the concentration on examination for a customer having lower risk.
- When providing service on electronic outward remittance for THB 50,000 or more, a sending financial institution and a receiving financial institution shall transmit and receive information of a transferor and a transferee, together with money transfer order. Such order shall contain details of the transferor and transferee.
- In case a financial institution makes business relationships with another financial institution as agent as to direct payment via a bank account, the first financial institution shall confirm that the agent shall manage risk, examine customer’s facts and provide such information when the first financial institution requests.
- Financial Institutions and Business Persons shall proceed with policy and regulations on internal control as appropriate for risk on money laundering.
Combination of registration for juristic-person establishment and social security registration
Department of Business Development (“DBD”) issues the Official Notice on Combining Procedures of Incorporation with Social Security Registration on 9 October 2019, as follow:
There is inconvenience for business commencement and operation previously because when an enterprise submitted application for juristic-person establishment to DBD for a time, the enterprise had to submit application for employer and employee registration to Social Security Office of Ministry of Labour (“SSO”) for another time.
DBD and SSO combines both procedures into a single service to reduce procedures and period on business commencement so that the enterprise can use the service more conveniently and quickly. The enterprise who establishes ordinary juristic partnership, limited partnership and limited company to DBD, provincial commercial office of Ministry of Commerce can be automatically registered as an employer to SSO. The enterprise can also apply 13-digit of juristic-person number to register the employee to SSO within 30 days as of the effective employment date of each employee. This single service shall be effective since 16 October 2019 onwards.