55.— (1) A designated person shall keep records evidencing the procedures applied, and information obtained, by the designated person under Chapter 3 in relation to—

(a) each customer, and

(b) in the case of a designated person to whom section 38 applies, each F114[correspondent relationship].

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a designated person shall take the original or a copy of all documents used by the designated person for the purposes of Chapter 3, including all documents used to verify the identity of customers F115[(including information from relevant trust services as set out in the Electronic Identification Regulation)] or beneficial owners in accordance with section 33.

(3) A designated person shall keep records evidencing the history of services and transactions carried out in relation to each customer of the designated person.

(4) F114[Subject to subsections (4A), (4B) and (4C), the documents and other records] referred to in subsections (1) to (3) F116[shall be retained by the designated person] for a period of not less than 5 years after—

(a) in the case of a record referred to in subsection (1)(a), the date on which the designated person ceases to provide any service to the customer concerned or the date of the last transaction (if any) with the customer, whichever is the later,

(b) in the case of a record referred to in subsection (1) (b), the date on which the F114[correspondent relationship] concerned ends,

(c) in the case of a record referred to in subsection (3) evidencing the carrying out of a particular transaction by the designated person with, for or on behalf of the customer (other than a record to which paragraph (d) applies), the date on which the particular transaction is completed or discontinued,

(d) in the case of a record referred to in subsection (3) evidencing the carrying out of a particular occasional transaction comprised of a series of transactions, with, for or on behalf of a customer, the date on which the series of transactions is completed or discontinued, or

(e) in the case of a record referred to in subsection (3) evidencing the carrying out of a particular service for or on behalf of the customer (other than a record to which paragraph (c) or (d) applies), the date on which the particular service is completed or discontinued.

F117[(4A) Where a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of Sergeant having carried out a thorough assessment of the necessity and proportionality of further retention is satisfied—

(a) that certain documents or records, or documents or records relating to a certain business relationship or occasional transaction, are required for the purposes of an investigation related to money laundering or terrorist financing, or

(b) notwithstanding the fact that a decision to institute proceedings against a person may not have been taken, that the documents or records are likely to be required for the prosecution of an offence of money laundering or terrorist financing,

the member may give a direction in writing to a designated person to retain the documents and other records for a period, up to a maximum of 5 years, additional to the period referred to in subsection (4).

(4B) Where a direction has been given to a designated person in accordance with subsection (4A) and neither paragraph (a) nor (b) of that subsection continue to apply a member of the Garda Síochána shall, as soon as practicable, notify the designated person to whom the direction was given of that fact and the direction shall expire on the date of that notification.

(4C) A designated person who is given a direction under subsection (4A) shall retain the documents or records specified in the direction until the earlier of—

(a) the expiration of the additional period specified in the direction, and

(b) the expiration of the direction.]

(5) Subsection (4)(a) extends to any record that was required to be retained under section 32(9)(a) of the Act of 1994 immediately before the repeal of that provision by this Act.

(6) Subsection (4)(c) to (e) extends to any record that was required to be retained under section 32(9)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 immediately before the repeal of that provision by this Act and for that purpose—

(a) a reference in subsection (4)(c) to (e) to a record referred to in subsection (3) includes a reference to such a record, and

(b) a reference in subsection (4)(d) to an occasional transaction comprised of a series of transactions includes a reference to a series of transactions referred to in section 32(3)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 1994.

(7) A designated person may keep the records referred to in subsections (1) to (6) wholly or partly in an electronic, mechanical or other non-written form only if they are capable of being reproduced in a written form.

F118[(7A) The records required to be kept by a designated person under this section may be kept outside the State provided that the designated person ensures that those records are produced in the State to—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána,

(b) an authorised officer appointed under section 72,

(c) a relevant authorised officer within the meaning of section 103, or

(d) a person to whom the designated person is required to produce such records in relation to his or her business, trade or profession,

as soon as practicable after the records concerned are requested, or where the obligation to produce the records arises under an order of a court made under section 63 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994, within the period which applies to such production under the court order concerned.]

F117[(7B) Upon the expiry of the retention periods referred to in this section a designated person shall ensure that any personal data contained in any document or other record retained solely for the purposes of this section is deleted.]

(8) The requirements imposed by this section are in addition to, and not in substitution for, any other requirements imposed by any other enactment or rule of law with respect to the keeping and retention of records by a designated person.

(9) The obligations that are imposed on a designated person under this section continue to apply to a person who has been a designated person, but has ceased to carry on business as a designated person.

(10) A requirement for a designated person that is a body corporate to retain any record under this section extends to any body corporate that is a successor to, or a continuation of, the body corporate.

(11) The Minister may make regulations prescribing requirements relating to the retention of records referred to in this section of a body corporate that is wound up or a partnership that is dissolved.

(12) 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).