The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Thursday issued the final revised version of the General guide to account opening In a bid to step up the industry’s anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing defences.
The information collected and verified at the initial stage of the bank-client relationship is “crucial” to fulfilling AML obligations, and in protecting banks from other sorts of abuses, such as fraud or identity theft, the committee says in a statement.
The revised guidance also incorporates the “significant enhancements” that have been made to the AML principles developed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the committee says.
It “aims to support banks in implementing the FATF standards and guidance, which requires the adoption of specific policies and procedures, in particular on account opening,” the committee adds.