The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said banks should get top management approval to carry on business association with a current client who then becomes politically connected and that the banks should carry out customer due diligence (CDD) on politically exposed people.
RBI has also said banks should use enhanced CDD to clients who are closely related to PEPs, and accounts for which a PEP is the final beneficiary.
In a circular, RBI has repeated its stand that banks need to carry out thorough know your customer (KYC) to prevent being used for money laundering and funding of terrorism. Earlier, banks had been asked to adopt risk management methods on incessant basis for PEP accounts.
RBI had also told banks that they should check the uniqueness of the person and get information regarding the sources of funds before taking them on as a customer. Moreover, banks were told to carefully check such accounts and family members or close relatives.
RBI has also repeated that the bank should not open accounts if it cannot use suitable customer due diligence steps. In fact, RBI has also suggested banks to close account of such customers, if it is present. The apex bank has also added that if the bank is dissatisfied with the proper identity of the account holder, it should inform financial intelligence unit regarding it.