Criminal Justice Act, 1994

Measures to be taken to prevent money laundering.

32.—(1) This section shall apply to the following persons or bodies (referred to in this section as “designated bodies”) namely—

(a) a body licensed to carry on banking business under the Central Bank Act, 1971 or authorised to carry on such business under regulations made under the European Communities Act, 1972 ,

(b) a building society incorporated or deemed to be incorporated under section 10 of the Building Societies Act, 1989 ,

(c) a person authorised to carry on a money broking business under section 110 of the Central Bank Act, 1989 ,

(d) a society licensed to carry on the business of a trustee savings bank under section 10 of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989 ,

(e) a life assurance undertaking which is the holder of an authorisation under the Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1990, or under regulations made under the European Communities Act, 1972 ,

(f) a person providing a service in financial futures and options exchanges within the meaning of section 97 of the Central Bank Act, 1989 ,

(g) An Post,

(h) ACC Bank p.l.c.,

(i) ICC Bank p.l.c.,

(j) a society which is registered as a credit union under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893 to 1978, by virtue of the Credit Union Act, 1966 ,

(k) a person providing a service in relation to buying and selling stocks, shares and other securities,

(l) a person providing foreign currency exchange services, and

(m) any other person or body prescribed in regulations made under subsection (10) (a) of this section.

(2) This section shall apply in respect of the carrying out of one or more of the operations which are included in numbers 2 to 12 and 14 of the list annexed to Council Directive 89/646/EEC, activities to which Council Directive 79/267/EEC as amended applies or any other activity which may be prescribed in regulations made under subsection (10) (b) of this section.

(3) A designated body shall take reasonable measures to establish the identity of any person for whom it proposes to provide a service of a kind mentioned in subsection (2) of this section—

(a) on a continuing basis, or

(b) in respect of transactions that, either as an individual transaction or a series of transactions which are or appear to be linked, amount in the aggregate to at least £10,000 or the amount for the time being prescribed by regulations made under subsection (10) (c) of this section, or

(c) otherwise where it suspects that a service is connected with the commission of an offence under section 31 of this Act.

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section, where the sum involved is not known at the time of the transaction, the obligations arising under this section shall apply as soon as it is established that the sums involved amount to at least the sum mentioned in the said paragraph of subsection (3) of this section.

(5) Where a designated body proposes to provide a service of a kind mentioned in subsection (2) of this section for a person whom it knows or has reason to believe to be acting for a third party, the designated body shall take reasonable measures to establish the identity of the third party.

(6) This section shall not apply where a designated body provides a service for another designated body or a body corresponding to a designated body in a member state of the European Union or a state or country which stands prescribed for the time being for the purposes of this subsection.

(7) Subsections (3), (4) and (5) of this section shall not apply to a life assurance undertaking referred to in subsection (1) (e) of this section in a case where—

(a) the amount or amounts of the periodic premiums to be paid in respect of the life assurance policy in any twelve month period does not or do not exceed £700 or the amount for the time being prescribed for the purpose of this paragraph by regulations made under subsection (10) (e) of this section unless the amount or amounts of the periodic premiums is or are increased so as to exceed in any twelve month period £700 or the amount so prescribed as the case may be, or

(b) a single premium to be paid in respect of the life assurance policy does not exceed £1,750 or the amount for the time being prescribed for the purpose of this paragraph by regulations made under subsection (10) (e) of this section,

and the said subsections (3), (4) and (5) shall not apply in the case where the life assurance policy is in respect of a pension scheme taken out by virtue of a contract of employment or the occupation of the person to be insured under the policy, provided that the policy in question does not contain a surrender clause and may not be used as collateral for a loan.

(8) Subsections (3), (4) and (5) of this section shall not apply to a life assurance undertaking referred to in subsection (1) (e) of this section in a case where there is a transaction or a series of transactions taking place in the course of its business in respect of which payment is made from an account held in the name of the other party with a designated body or a body corresponding to a designated body as referred to in subsection (6) of this section.

(9) Where a designated body identifies a person for the purposes of this section, it shall retain the following for use as evidence in any investigation into money laundering—

(a) in the case of the identification of a customer or proposed customer, a copy of all materials used to identify the person concerned for a period of at least 5 years after the relationship with the person has ended,

(b) in the case of transactions, the original documents or copies admissible in legal proceedings relating to the relevant transaction for a period of at least 5 years following the execution of the transaction.

(10) The Minister may by regulations—

(a) following consultation with the Minister for Finance, prescribe other persons or bodies to be designated bodies for the purposes of this section, being persons or bodies whose business consists of or includes the provision of services involving the acceptance or holding of money or other property for or on behalf of other persons or whose business appears to the Minister to be otherwise liable to be used for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of offences under section 31 of this Act or any corresponding or similar offences under the law of any other country or territory,

(b) following consultation with the Minister for Finance, prescribe activities for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section which appear to the Minister to be liable to be used for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of offences under section 31 of this Act or any corresponding or similar offences under the law of any other country or territory,

(c) following consultation with the Minister for Finance, prescribe an amount for the purposes of subsections (3) (b) and (4) of this section,

(d) following consultation with the Minister for Finance, prescribe states or countries for the purposes of subsection (6) of this section,

(e) following consultation with the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, prescribe amounts for the purposes of subsections (7) (a) and (b) of this section.

(11) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if either House shall, within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation was laid before it, pass a resolution annulling the regulation, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the regulation.

(12) A person who contravenes a provision of this section or who provides false or misleading information for the purposes of subsection (3), (4) or (5) of this section when required to do so under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

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