In order to strengthen the responsibility of CPA to verify the identity of their customers and beneficial owners, the FSC is studying amendments to the Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism for Certified Public Accountants, which will be announced in the near future in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act to solicit opinions from all parties. The key amendments are as follows: 

 

CPA should be required to verify the identity of the customer and beneficial owner before or during the course of establishing a business relationship or conducting transactions for occasional customers and a CPA shall comply with the provisions in their watch list filtering programs on customers and connected parties of transactions.

 

The FSC said that, in addition to being published in the official gazette of the Executive Yuan, these draft amendments will be published on the FSC website. For any comments, please state them in the “Forum of Draft Regulation Advance Notice” of the FSC’s “Integrated Inquiry System of Regulations under the Supervision of the FSC” (URL: http://law.fsc.gov.tw/) within 60 days from the day after the announcement, or contact the Securities and Futures Bureau of the FSC.