AML Data Collection for Pre-2000 Non-Compliant Accounts (2022-03-09)

Summary

This is a General Industry Notice from CIMA, dated 9 March 2022, informing financial service providers (FSPs) that they no longer need to submit the Non-Compliant Accounts Form v1 (NCA Form v1). That form had been used since around 2000 to help track FSPs' remediation of accounts opened before 2000 that lacked adequate customer due diligence (CDD)/know-your-customer (KYC) information under the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Law and the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (AMLRs). CIMA states the form and its associated submission email address are now inactive, effective immediately.

The notice clarifies that discontinuing the form does not remove FSPs' underlying AML/CFT obligations.

• Regulation 18 reminder: CIMA reminds FSPs of Regulation 18 of the AMLRs, which requires that where a person cannot obtain information needed to satisfy CDD requirements, they must not open the account or commence the transaction, or must terminate the existing business relationship, and must consider filing a suspicious activity report.
• Ongoing responsibility: FSPs remain responsible for monitoring and addressing non-compliant accounts through their own AML/CFT risk-based measures and internal reporting procedures.
• Dormant accounts: FSPs should consider any separate legal obligations relating to accounts dormant for seven or more years.

Overall, this is primarily an administrative/informational notice removing a specific reporting form, paired with a reminder of pre-existing statutory obligations rather than the imposition of new substantive requirements.

Key obligations

• FSPs are no longer required to submit the Non-Compliant Accounts Form v1 (NCA Form v1); it should not be sent to the previously used email address.
• Where an FSP cannot obtain information needed to satisfy CDD requirements under Regulation 18 of the AMLRs, it must not open the account, commence business relations, or perform the transaction, or must terminate the business relationship if already established.
• Where CDD cannot be satisfied, the FSP must consider making a suspicious activity report in relation to the customer.
• FSPs must vigilantly monitor and address non-compliant (pre-2000) accounts through their own AML/CFT risk-based measures and internal reporting procedures.
• FSPs should consider any other applicable legal obligations regarding accounts dormant for seven or more years due to lost contact or inactivity.

Applies to

financial service providers (FSPs)

Deadlines

• effective immediately (as of 9 March 2022): Submission of the Non-Compliant Accounts Form v1 (NCA Form v1) is no longer required.