Anti-money laundering law ambit widened: A look at the changes
India has widened the ambit of anti-money laundering law by bringing in new reporting entities, and changed the way financial transactions are recorded, giving more powers to authorities as it prepares for a review by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in November. The changes seek to make the framework more effective & compliant. ET looks at the changes:
MORE TEETH TO AUTHORITIES
- Enforcement Directorate given more powers
- Agency empowered to carry out search, seizure without notice
- Imprisonment up to seven years
- Power to impose fine without upper limit
- Can seize and attach properties, including virtual currencies …
…TO ADMINISTER EXPANDED PMLA REGIME
A: MORE REPORTING ENTITIES
More entities brought under the PMLA reporting framework:.
These are:
- Chartered accountants, company secretaries, cost work accountants
- Directors, secretaries of cos, partners of firms
- Intermediaries in casinos and crypto or virtual digital assets
- Trustees of express trusts, nominee shareholders
- People arranging addresses, trustees for businesses
- Individuals helping in formation of a company
B. MORE TRANSACTIONS & INCREASED DISCLOSURES
- Lowered threshold of beneficial ownership to 10% from 25%
- More disclosure of beneficial owners apart from KYC
- More disclosure for non-profit organisation
- Widened definition of ‘politically exposed persons
C. NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES COVERED BROADENED
- Buying and selling any immovable property on behalf of someone
- Managing client money, securities, or other assets
- Management of bank, savings, or securities accounts
- Organisation of contributions for creation, operation, or management of companies
INDIA GEARS UP FOR FATF EVALUATION
- FATF to review India’s anti money laundering framework
- Review of compliance as per 40 FATF recommendations
- Last FATF peer review was carried out in 2010
- Review to be discussed at FATF June ’24 meet
INDUSTRY APPREHENSIVE ABOUT CHANGES
- Says new norms will substantially enhance compliance burden
- Fears prosecution under PMLA for even small lapses
- These are seen as putting a strain on resources of smaller firms
- TOO MUCH POWER to enforcement agencies
For all the latest world News Click Here
Denial of responsibility! TechAI is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.