33.— (1) A designated person shall apply the measures specified in F44[subsection (2)], in relation to a customer of the designated person—

(a) prior to establishing a business relationship with the customer,

(b) prior to carrying out an occasional transaction with, for or on behalf of the customer or assisting the customer to carry out an occasional transaction,

F45[(c) prior to carrying out any service for the customer, if, having regard to the circumstances, including—

(i) the customer, or the type of customer, concerned,

(ii) the type of any business relationship which the person has with the customer,

(iii) the type of service or of any transaction or product in respect of which the service is sought,

(iv) the purpose (or the customer’s explanation of the purpose) of the service or of any transaction or product in respect of which the service is sought,

(v) the value of any transaction or product in respect of which the service is sought,

(vi) the source (or the customer’s explanation of the source) of funds for any such transaction or product,

the person has reasonable grounds to suspect that the customer is involved in, or the service, transaction or product sought by the customer is for the purpose of, money laundering or terrorist financing, or]

or

(d) prior to carrying out any service for the customer if—

(i) the person has reasonable grounds to doubt the veracity or adequacy of documents (whether or not in electronic form) or information that the person has previously obtained for the purpose of verifying the identity of the customer, whether obtained under this section or section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 (“the 1994 Act”) prior to its repeal by this Act or under any administrative arrangements that the person may have applied before section 32 of the 1994 Act operated in relation to the person, and

(ii) the person has not obtained any other documents or information that the person has reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identity of the F44[customer,]

F46[and

(e) at any time, including a situation where the relevant circumstances of a customer have changed, where the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing warrants their F47[application, or]]

F48[(f) at any time where the designated person is obliged by virtue of any enactment or rule of law, including the European Union (Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 549 of 2012), to contact a customer for the purposes of reviewing any relevant information relating to the beneficial owner connected with the customer.]

(2) The measures that shall be applied F46[, in accordance with section 30B,] by a designated person under subsection (1) are as follows:

(a) identifying the customer, and verifying the customer’s identity on the basis of documents (whether or not in electronic form), or information, that the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identity of the customer, including—

(i) documents from a government source (whether or not a State government source), F49[…]

F48[(ia) information from relevant trust services as specified in the Electronic Identification Regulation, or]

(ii) any prescribed class of documents, or any prescribed combination of classes of documents;

(b) identifying any beneficial owner connected with the customer or service concerned, and taking measures reasonably warranted by the risk of money laundering or terrorist financing—

(i) to verify the beneficial owner’s identity to the extent necessary to ensure that the person has reasonable grounds to be satisfied that the person knows who the beneficial owner is, F49[…]

(ii) in the case of a legal entity or legal arrangement of a kind referred to in section 26, 27, 28 or 30, to understand the ownership and control structure of the entity or arrangement F47[concerned, and]

F48[(iii) where the beneficial owner is the senior managing official referred to in Article 3(6)(a)(ii) of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive, a designated person shall take the necessary measures to verify the identity of that person and shall keep records of the actions taken to verify the person’s identity including any difficulties encountered in the verification process.]

F46[(2A) When applying the measures specified in subsection (2), a designated person shall verify that any person purporting to act on behalf of the customer is so authorised and identify and verify the identity of that person in accordance with subsection (2).]

(3) Nothing in subsection (2)(a)(i) or (ii) limits the kinds of documents or information that a designated person may have reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identity of a customer.

(4) F50[…]

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (1)(a), a designated person may verify the identity of a customer or beneficial owner, in accordance with F44[subsection (2)], during the establishment of a business relationship with the customer if the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe that—

(a) verifying the identity of the customer or beneficial owner (as the case may be) prior to the establishment of the relationship would interrupt the normal conduct of business, and

(b) there is no real risk that the customer is involved in, or the service sought by the customer is for the purpose of, money laundering or terrorist financing,

but the designated person shall take reasonable steps to verify the identity of the customer or beneficial owner, in accordance with F44[subsection (2)], as soon as practicable.

(6) Notwithstanding subsection (1)(a), F44[a credit institution or financial institution may allow an account, including an account that permits transactions in transferable securities, to be opened with it] by a customer before verifying the identity of the customer or a beneficial owner, in accordance with F44[subsection (2)], so long as the institution ensures that transactions in connection with the account are not carried out by or on behalf of the customer or beneficial owner before carrying out that verification.

F51[(7) In addition to the measures required in relation to a customer and a beneficial owner under this section, credit institutions and financial institutions shall apply the measures specified in subsections (7A) to (7C) to the beneficiaries of life assurance and other investment-related assurance policies.

(7A) As soon as the beneficiaries of life assurance and other investment-related assurance policies are identified or designated, a credit institution or financial institution shall—

(a) take the names of beneficiaries that are identified as specifically named persons or legal arrangements, and

(b) in the case of beneficiaries designated by characteristics, class or other means, obtain sufficient information to satisfy the institution that it will be able to establish the identity of the beneficiary at the time of the payout.

(7B) A credit institution or financial institution shall verify the identity of a beneficiary referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (7A) at the time of the payout in accordance with subsection (2).

(7C) In the case of assignment, in whole or in part, of a policy of life assurance or other investment-related assurance to a third party, a credit institution or financial institution that is aware of the assignment shall identify the beneficial owner at the time of the assignment to the natural or legal person, or legal arrangement, receiving for his or her, or its, own benefit the value of the policy assigned.

(7D) In addition to the measures required in relation to a customer and a beneficial owner, in the case of beneficiaries of trusts or of similar legal arrangements that are designated by particular characteristics or class, a designated person shall obtain sufficient information concerning the beneficiary to satisfy the designated person that it will be able to establish the identity of the beneficiary at the time of the payout or at the time of the exercise by the beneficiary of its vested rights.]

(8) F52[Subject to subsection (8A), a designated person] who is unable to apply the measures specified in F52[subsection (2) or (4)] in relation to a customer, as a result of any failure on the part of the customer to provide the designated person with documents or information required under this section—

(a) shall not provide the service or carry out the transaction sought by that customer for so long as the failure remains unrectified, and

(b) shall discontinue the business relationship (if any) with the customer.

F53[(8A) Nothing in subsection (8) or section 35(2) shall operate to prevent a relevant independent legal professional or relevant professional adviser—

(a) ascertaining the legal position of a person, or

(b) performing the task of defending or representing a person in, or in relation to, civil or criminal proceedings, including providing advice on instituting or avoiding such proceedings.]

(9) F52[A designated person] who fails to comply with this section commits an offence and is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months (or both), or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years (or both).

(10) F50[…]

(11) The Minister may prescribe a class of documents, or a combination of classes of documents, for the purposes of subsection (2)(a)(ii), only if the Minister is satisfied that the class or combination of documents would be adequate to verify the identity of customers of designated persons.

(12) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a)(ii), the Minister may prescribe different classes of documents, or combinations of classes of documents, for different kinds of designated persons, customers, transactions, services or risks of money laundering or terrorist financing.