IME (M) SDN BHD CUSTOMER ACCEPTANCE POLICY 1. Introduction 1.1 IME (M) Sdn Bhd A Remittance Company IME (M) Sdn Bhd [IME] is a full service remittance company granted permission by the Controller of Foreign Exchange of Malaysia under Section 10 of the Exchange Control Act 1953 and notified by Bank Negara Malaysia under Section 5 of the Payment Systems Act 2003, to carry out remittance business as a non-bank remittance service provider (RSP) in Malaysia. 1.2 As a non-bank RSP in Malaysia, IME is in the business of:- (i) Accepting funds, in the form of cash or by means of a payment instrument or through an approved payment system from a person in Malaysia for the purpose of remitting such funds to another person in or outside Malaysia (This is sending or outward remittance); and (ii) Delivering funds, in the form of cash or by means of a payment instrument or through an approved payment system from a person outside Malaysia for the purpose of remitting/paying such funds to another person in Malaysia (This is receiving or inward remittance). 2. The Policy The main objective of the IME s Customer Acceptance Policy is to prevent the IME s network within Malaysia and abroad from being used as a conduit to facilitate money laundering, financing of terrorism or other unlawful activities. IME shall endeavour to accept only customers whose identities and sources of funds have been obtained and verified to IME s satisfaction. 3. Applicability 3.1 This policy governs the acceptance of person (s) / entity (ies) by IME as its customer (s). 3.2 Persons and Entities include directors and staff of IME and their relatives and/or entities in which they are interested parties. 3.3 All outlets and branches of IME in Malaysia are bound by the rules laid down under this policy in the conduct of remittance business. 1 of 8
4. Customers of IME A risk-based approach is to be applied for identifying and verifying new customers (Customer Due Diligence). A relationship should not be established until the identity of a new customer is satisfactorily verified in accordance with the procedures set out herein and in the Risk Profiling of Customers Policy and Procedure. 4.1 For the purpose of this policy, a customer is defined as: a person or entity that has a business relationship with IME or one on whose behalf the relationship has been established (e.g. the beneficial owner) Note: a business relationship in this context is an arrangement between IME and a person/entity whereby the customer can avail himself/herself to the remittance services offered by IME. 4.2 A person/entity must be a customer of IME before he/she can use the remittance services of IME on a one-off or recurring basis. 4.3 A person/entity is deemed to be an IME s customer only after IME officially accepts him/her as a customer. 4.4 Acceptance of a person/entity as a customer by IME is done when a person/entity applies for remittance services with IME for the very first time. 4.5 The following rules shall apply to qualify a person or entity before the person/entity is accepted as a customer of IME (establishing a relationship with IME for sending and receiving money):- (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) A person applying to be a customer as a natural person, or as a legal person (beneficial owner) or on behalf of an entity which he is authorised to represent, must have attained 18 years of age, be of sound mind and, where applicable, duly authorised by the entity/party he/she represents. Person(s) applying as per (i) above and the entity on whose behalf he/she is authorised to apply must be identified and the person s identity and the identity of the entity verified against reliable, independent source documents, data or information. The identity of the person, beneficial parties and entity whom he/she represents must not match with any person or entity with known criminal background or with banned entities such as individual terrorists or terrorist organizations etc. Persons mentioned in (i) to (iii) above must be present in 2 of 8
(v) person at the time of acceptance by IME as a customer. In no circumstances should a relationship be established with anonymous persons or persons who attempt to provide false name (s) or records. 4.6 The following guide for customer identification and verification must be strictly adhered to for the purpose of identifying and verifying the identity of a person/entity:- Guide for Customer Identification and Verification:- Persons/Entities Mandatory Information Required Acceptable Documents To Be Obtained and Verified Against Action/Comments 1. Persons (Individuals) 1.1 Malaysian Legal Name Date of Birth Age MyKad number Address Occupation Name of Employer/selfemployed Nature of business* Telephone Contact *Nature of business for employer or selfemployed. MyKad Passport Driving License Utility Bill Bank Account Statement MyKad is the mandatory document required. The rest are secondary i.e. when in doubt or further determination/ confirmation is required e.g. when the address given does not match that in the Mykad 1.2 Non- Malaysian Legal Name Date of Birth Age Passport number Local Address Nationality Occupation Name of Employer/selfemployed Nature of business* Telephone contact * Nature of business for employer or selfemployed. Note: If a customer is unable to provide a proof of permanent local residential address, further enquiries must be made and if the attending officer is satisfied with the Passport (Valid) OR Work Permit/Visa Document from any recognized Malaysian public authority Letter From Employer Passport (Valid) OR Work Permit/Visa mandatory documents. The rest are secondary documents i.e. when in doubt or further determination/ confirmation is required to satisfy the officer e.g. when documents are held by relevant public authorities like extension of visa then the temporary Immigration Document will be required OR when occupation declared does not match work document, Letter from Employer is required. 3 of 8
answer given i.e. the physical address details are consistent with the answer given, the answer must be noted on the application form. In the case where the place of residence does not have a formal address, a local address at which he can be located may be used. This address must be verified e.g. if it is a friend s address, the friend or employer must confirm. 2. Company Name Of Company Principal place of business Nature of Business Certificate of Incorporation number Mailing Address Telephone/fax Certificate of incorporation and Memorandum & Articles of Association Resolution of the Board of Directors identifying those who have the authority to attend to the remittance or the power to authorize a person to do so. Power of Attorney granted to its managers, officers or employees to transact business on its behalf Copy of the telephone bill Certificate of Incorporation Resolution of the Board (and where applicable), Power Of Attorney MyKad/Passport (valid) of representative present. All mandatory documents, wherever applicable 3. Partnership Legal name (of the partnership if applicable) Address (of the partnership) Registration certificate number OR Name of the partner/authorised person present and his address. Registration certificate, if registered Partnership deed Power of Attorney granted to a partner or an employee of the firm to transact business on its behalf Any officially valid document identifying Business Registration (if registered), Partnership Deed/Agreement and where applicable, Power Of Attorney And/or MyKad/Passport 4 of 8
Mykad/Passport number of partner/ authorised person Nature of Business Telephone numbers of the firm partner/ authorised person present the partners and the persons holding the Power of Attorney and their addresses Telephone bill in the name of firm/partners (where applicable) of partner/ authorised person All mandatory documents, wherever applicable 4. Trust and Foundations Trusts and Foundations Names of trustees, settlers, beneficiaries and signatories Names and addresses of the founder, the managers/directors and the beneficiaries Telephone/fax numbers Certificate of registration, if registered Power of Attorney granted to transact business on its behalf Any officially valid document to identify the trustees, settlers, beneficiaries and those holding Power of Attorney, founders/managers/ directors and their addresses Resolution of the managing body of the foundation/ association Telephone bill Trust: Trust Deed Foundation/Association: Certificate of registration (if registered) Resolution of managing body of the foundation/ association All mandatory documents, wherever applicable 4.7 No anonymous or fictitious name (s) is/are to be used. 4.8 The mandatory information that is not required to be completed in the standard remittance application form must be written on a separate piece of paper and signed by the officer who obtained the information. 4.9 Original of the required documents must be sighted and a copy taken for record purposes. Officer who sights the document (s) must sign on the copy (ies) taken. 4.10 Copies of documents obtained and sheets bearing mandatory information must be attached to the duly completed and signed remittance application form. 5. Approval 5 of 8
5.1 Acceptance of customers who comply fully with the prevailing rules and customer identification and verification process must be approved by the Branch Officer-in-Charge. 5.2 In cases where:- (i) (ii) Customer identification and verification process cannot be fully complied with; or Unable to apply appropriate due diligence measures e.g. noncooperation of the customer or non-reliability of the data/information furnished by customer gives rise to doubt and suspicion. Branch Officer-in-Charge may exercise his/her discretion to approve or reject, taking into account the level of risk the customer poses. 5.3 For high risk customers in the following categories:- (i) (ii) Customer originating from countries/jurisdictions that have been or from time to time publicly identified by relevant authorities and bodies as having strategic AML/CFT deficiencies; or Politically Exposed Persons (PEP). In addition to the rules on customer acceptance and guidelines on customer/entity identification and verification, sufficient additional information on the person/entity must be gathered and all the information available on the person/entity in the public domain must be checked and information about sources of funds must be obtained. Based on this information, the Branch Officer-in-Charge of the outlet/branch concerned must then forward a recommendation to Head Office whether to approve or reject. Acceptance or rejection of persons/entities in these categories must be approved by the Deputy Executive Director or in his absence, the General Manager. 5.4 Upon approval to accept person/entity as a customer, the required details obtained and verified must be keyed into the IME Remittance System. 6. Information Update and Monitoring Existing customers must be re-identified as and when they perform recurring transactions after being accepted as a customer. If differing 6 of 8
information is provided during the performance of transactions viz-a-viz information provided during customer acceptance evaluation process or if transaction activities give rise to doubt or do not appear to be consistent with the information on record, the customer s status as an existing customer must be re-evaluated and where necessary data and information re-verified. 7. Duties and Responsibilities Relevant persons and departments within IME and its Board of Directors will be ultimately responsible for proper supervision, reporting and compliance pursuant to Customer Acceptance Policy. In connection thereto, the role of the Board of Directors of IME shall be as follows: 7.1 To review the anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policies, strategies and procedures relating to Customer Acceptance Policy that have been formulated for IME on a company wide basis and approve the adoption of the same; 7.2 To review and assess adequacy or risk management approaches taken in identifying, monitoring and controlling and the extent to which these are operating effectively. 7.3 To be aware of and sanction standards and guidelines relating to Customer Acceptance in IME e.g. AML/CFT regimes. 7.4 To deliberate on new developments on Customer Acceptance issues on a periodic basis. 7.5 To ensure that infrastructure, resources and systems are in place for Customer Acceptance regime management. In connection thereto, to deliberate upon reports and approve papers pertaining to Customer Acceptance, any other guides and reports e.g. the AML/CFT Policy and Compliance Programme relating to Customer Acceptance (Including but not limited to AML/CFT awareness programme, action plans, expenses relating to training of staff, AML/CFT awareness campaigns, system enhancements etc) that are submitted/recommended by the various units/departments for approval and implementation within IME. 7.6 To accept, note and provide comments/feedback (if any) on periodical Customer Acceptance reports. 7 of 8
The Board of Directors may delegate any of its roles and responsibilities set out herein to various management personnel or any other board committee as it shall deem fit. 8. Retention Of Records It is IME policy that all records must be kept for a period of not less than six (6) years from the date the transaction or relationship was initiated and terminated. In situations where the records are subject to on-going investigations or prosecution in court of law, they shall be retained beyond the stipulated retention period until confirmed by the relevant authorities that they are no longer needed. All records must be properly maintained and securely stored for easy retrieval. 9. Non-Compliance Non-compliance with the rules and guidelines herein will result in staff concerned being subject to disciplinary action. This policy must be read in conjunction with all other relevant laws and regulations and in line with other guidelines from regulatory authorities, internal circulars and directives issued from time to time. 8 of 8