SECP amends intermediaries rules

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has amended the Intermediaries (Registration) Regulations, 2017 in the light of recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body established to coordinate efforts on anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), a statement said on Tuesday.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, places compliance obligations on the company service providers (intermediaries) to conduct due diligence of customers and report suspicious transactions to the Financial Monitoring Unit. The amended regulations will require compliance by the intermediaries with the AML/CFT regime, it added.

So far, 193 intermediaries have been registered with the SECP under the Companies Act, 2017, and their list is available on the SECP website. In terms of aforesaid amendments, notified vide SRO 1521(I)/2018 on December 14, intermediaries, while performing their functions, would ensure that their clients are not involved in any illegal or suspicious activities, implying money laundering or terrorist financing.

Further, the intermediaries would also ensure that the client is not placed on the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) list of designated persons or entities linked to terrorist financing or against whom a ban, sanction or embargo subsists, it added.