2017.6.26
Sophia Tsai
The Financial Supervisory Commission promulgated the Rules for Anti-money Laundering for Certified Public Accountants (hereinafter, the “Rules”), which consist of nine articles, via the Jin-Guan-Zheng-Shen-1060023292 Directive of June 26, 2017; and the Guidelines for Anti-money Laundering for Certified Public Accountants (hereinafter, the “Guidelines”), which consist of five points, via the Jin-Guan-Zheng-Shen-10600232921 Directive. The Rules and Guidelines came into effect on June 28, 2017.
Article 7 of the Rules specifically stipulates seven types which shall be reported by certified public accountants, including, for example, circumstances where for compensation or transaction in an amount in excess of NT$500,000, the client pays on his/her own, or requests payment of, amounts slightly below the required reporting threshold several times or continuously; where for compensation or transaction in an amount exceeding NT$500,000, payment is made by cash, foreign currency cash, traveler’ checks or other bearer’s financial instruments without justified reasons; where purchase of real estate is requested immediately without justified reasons; where the client is a terrorist or terrorist organization announced by the Ministry of Justice; where the amount of transaction is derived from or will be paid to a highly risky country or region; and where the client fails to explain about the specific reasons for the transaction or the client is impersonated by another person.
Article 5 of the Rules provides that in addition to confirming a client’s identity, the client review procedure shall also be enhanced. In addition, transaction documents, records and vouchers shall be retained with relevant records retained for at least five years. In addition, an accounting firm is required to conduct its internal control and management pursuant to Point 3 of the Guidelines, and certified public accountants are also requested to participate in relevant on-the-job anti-money laundering training.