Int'l transactions above ₹50,000 to come under further scrutiny

The Centre on Tuesday notified an amendment to the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, further tightening the record keeping in case of international transactions above ₹50,000 to prevent terror financing.

Every international transaction above ₹50,000 will be subject to closer scrutiny and a reporting entity will have to identify clients, verify their identity and also ascertain purpose of the business if not well defined.

The latest rule also mandated reporting entities, which are part of a group, to have adequate safeguards on the confidentiality and use of information exchanged, including safeguards to prevent tipping-off.


"Every reporting entity shall...identify its clients, verify their identity using reliable and independent sources of identification, obtain information on the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship, where applicable and take reasonable steps to understand the nature of the customer's business, and its ownership and control," the notification says.

The reporting entity also has to "determine whether a client is acting on behalf of a beneficial owner, and identify the beneficial owner and take all steps to verify the identity of the beneficial owner, using reliable and independent sources of identification," the notification says.