New Delhi: Insurance regulator IRDA on Tuesday
tightened the anti-money laundering guidelines by asking the
insurance companies to ensure that no policies are issued to
persons with fictitious names.
"While carrying out the KYC (know-your-customer) norms,
special care has to be exercised to ensure that the contracts
are not anonymous or under fictitious names," Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said in its update
on the anti-money laundering guidelines.
IRDA also asked the insurance companies to devise
procedures to ensure that contracts with high risk customers
are concluded only after approval of senior management staffs.
The insurance companies have been given time up to
October 31, 2009 to comply with the new norms.
It also said proposals of politically-exposed persons
should be approved by the insurance companies only after
vetting of the contract by the senior management staffs, not
below the rank of underwriting head or chief risk officer.
The insurance watchdog also said that any change
in the customers’ recorded profile, which is inconsistent with the
normal and expected activity of the customer, must be probed
further by the insurance companies as part of the KYC process.
The review follows the recommendations of the Financial
Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body developing and
promoting policies to combat money laundering
and terrorist financing.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 22:07