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16.14 Third Party Transactions

N 35/2018 STA
  1. 16.14.1A transaction is treated as a third party transaction when it is carried out by a person (hereafter known as ‘the representative’) on behalf of another natural person or a legal entity (hereafter known as ‘the beneficial owner of funds’). The Licensed Person must not accept third party transactions except in cases that are mentioned under Paragraphs 16.14.2 to 16.14.6 of this Chapter;
  2. 16.14.2The Licensed Person may accept the transaction by a natural person on behalf of another natural person subject to the following conditions:
    1. a)The representative must produce a duly executed Power of Attorney (PoA) from the beneficial owner of funds to carry out such transactions. Where there is no PoA, the beneficial owner of funds must issue a letter authorizing the representative to carry out transactions on his/her behalf. The beneficial owner of funds must visit the Licensed Person to sign such letter of authority, the validity of which shall not exceed two (2) years from the date of issue;
    2. b)The letter of authority must refer to the type of transactions (whether currency exchange or money transfer) which the representative is authorized to carry out on behalf of the beneficial owner of funds as well as the identification details of both parties. The letter must also include the beneficiary details in the case of a money transfer transaction;
    3. c)The signature of the beneficial owner of funds in the letter of authority must be verified against that in the passport or the Emirates ID;
    4. d)The representative and the beneficial owner of funds must both be resident in the UAE;
    5. e)Original identification documents of both parties must be collected and verified in addition to retaining the copies of such identification documents certified as “Original Sighted and Verified”;
    6. f)The beneficial owner of funds must undergo the CDD process in accordance with Paragraph 16.9 of this Chapter. The EDD process must be applied, when applicable, in accordance with Paragraph 16.10 of this chapter;
    7. g)All transactions must be recorded in the system against the Unique Identification Number of the beneficial owner of funds. Name and ID details of the representative must also be recorded in the Point of Sale system;
    8. h)The names of both parties must be subjected to the sanction/FPEP screening. In the case of money transfer transactions, the beneficiary’s name as well as the name of beneficiary bank must also be appropriately screened;
    9. i)The name of the representative must be printed separately on the transaction receipt in addition to the information of the beneficial owner of funds in accordance with Paragraph 16.9.10 or 16.10.3 of this Chapter, whichever is applicable; and
    10. j)All such transactions must be closely monitored by the Compliance Officer. The systems must have the capability to support monitoring of such transactions and must generate necessary exception reports and alerts.
  3. 16.14.3The Requirement under Paragraph 16.14.2 of this Chapter is not applicable, where the transaction is carried out by a natural person on behalf of another natural person who is either working as domestic helper (examples are: house maid, cook, servant, cleaner, etc.) or unable to visit the licensed premises due to the inherent nature of their work/living conditions, subject to the following conditions:
    1. a)The representative must produce a letter signed by the beneficial owner of the funds authorizing the representative to carry out transactions. This letter of authority must refer to the type of transactions (whether currency exchange or money transfer) which the representative is authorized to carry out on behalf of the beneficial owner of funds as well as the identification details of both parties. The letter must also include the beneficiary details in the case of a money transfer transaction;
    2. b)The total value of transactions, whether foreign currency exchange or inward/outward remittance, shall not exceed AED 24,000 during a rolling three hundred and sixty five (365) days from the date of the first transaction for each beneficial owner of funds;
    3. c)The representative and the beneficial owner of funds must both be resident in the UAE;
    4. d)Original identification documents of both parties must be collected and verified in addition to retaining the copies of such identification documents certified as “Original Sighted and Verified”;
    5. e)The representative must undergo the CDD process in accordance with Paragraph 16.9 of this Chapter. The EDD process must be applied, when applicable, in accordance with Paragraph 16.10 of this Chapter. The Licensed Person is expected to take all measures practically possible to confirm that such transactions are genuine without leaving any chance for doubt or confusion for misuse of this arrangement;
    6. f)All such transactions must be recorded in the system against the Unique Identification Number of the representative. The name and ID details of the beneficial owner of funds must also be recorded in the Point of Sale system. The SMS notifications in accordance with Paragraph 4.9 of Chapter 4 must go directly to the beneficial owner of funds;
    7. g)The names of both parties must be subjected to sanction/FPEP screening. In the case of money transfer transactions, the beneficiary’s name as well as the name of beneficiary bank must also be appropriately screened;
    8. h)The name of the beneficial owner of funds must be printed separately on the transaction receipt in addition to the information of the representative in accordance with Paragraph 16.9.10 or 16.10.3 of this Chapter, whichever is applicable;
    9. i)All such transactions must be closely monitored by the Compliance Officer. The systems must have the capability to support monitoring of such transactions and must generate necessary exception reports and alerts; and
    10. j)In case of any doubt or confusion regarding the documents submitted or information provided by the representative, the Licensed Person must insist the beneficial owner of funds to personally visit the Licensed Person to complete the KYC process. If the beneficial owner of the funds refuses to visit the Licensed Person, the relationship must be terminated and the case must be reported to the FID immediately where necessary.
  4. 16.14.4Transactions by a natural person on behalf of another legal entity in the UAE falls under the scope of the EDD Process under Paragraph 16.11 of this Chapter. The conditions under Paragraph 16.14.5 of this Chapter must be applied where the remittance transactions are for importing goods or payment for services;
  5. 16.14.5Remittance transactions from legal entities in the UAE for importing goods or payment for services (i.e. trade related transactions), must only be accepted subject to the below conditions:
    1. a)Enhanced Due Diligence (Please refer to Paragraph 16.11 of this Chapter) must be completed for each legal entity before onboarding the customer;
    2. b)The Licensed Person must establish the commercial/economic reason for each remittance transaction;
    3. c)The Licensed Person must ensure that supporting documents, such as Invoices, are in the name of the legal entity in the UAE and the goods are destined for the UAE;
    4. d)The names of all parties involved in the transaction such as names of remitter (i.e. legal entity), its Owner/Partners/Shareholders, authorized person who carries out the transaction (i.e. the representative) and beneficiary must undergo sanction/FPEP screening for each transaction;
    5. e)Preference must be given to settle such transactions through a bank, either by cheque or via bank transfer, instead of accepting cash;
    6. f)The Licensed Person must collect the original Bill of Lading/Airway Bill for the post transaction (i.e. after executing such transactions) verification, whenever the same is issued. A copy of the original Bill of Lading/Airway Bill certified as “Original Sighted and Verified” under the signature of the employee who carries out the KYC Process must be retained;
    7. g)The Licensed Person must also track the movement of such goods using an appropriate container/vessel tracking system when the settlement of the underlying transaction is in cash. Appropriate logs and evidences must be maintained by the Licensed Person for such tracking;
    8. h)All such transactions must be closely monitored by the Compliance Officer. The systems must have the capability to support monitoring of such transactions and must generate necessary exception reports and alerts; and
    9. i)The authorized person who carries out the transaction (i.e. the representative) on behalf of the legal entity must be a resident in the UAE.
  6. 16.14.6Where a legal entity in the UAE (i.e. the remitter) which remits on behalf of another entity outside the UAE (i.e. beneficial owner of funds) who imports goods or pays for services, the Licensed Person must accept such transactions subject to the below conditions:
    1. a)The Licensed Person must undertake the EDD on the remitter which must be in accordance with Paragraph 16.11 of this Chapter;
    2. b)The Licensed Person must also undertake the EDD on the beneficial owner of funds;
    3. c)There must be at least one shareholder or partner common to both entities (i.e. legal entity in the UAE and the entity outside the UAE);
    4. d)In case, there is no shareholder or partner common to both entities, then there must be a legally valid agreement between the remitter and the beneficial owner of funds, authorizing the remitter to carry out such transaction;
    5. e)All documents related to the incorporation of the entity outside the UAE (i.e. beneficial owner of funds) and the agreement between both the parties must be appropriately attested by relevant authorities in the respective foreign country and in the UAE;
    6. f)The name of the beneficial owner of the funds and its Owner/Partners/Shareholders must be captured in the POS system in addition to the required information of the remitter as per Paragraph 16.11.3 of this Chapter. Names of all parties involved in the transaction such as names of the remitter, beneficial owner of funds, Owner/Partners/Shareholders of both entities, authorized person who carries out the transaction (i.e. the representative) and beneficiary must undergo sanction/FPEP screening for each transaction;
    7. g)The Licensed Person must establish the commercial/economic reasons for each remittance transaction;
    8. h)The Licensed Person must ensure that supporting documents, such as invoices, are in the name of the beneficial owner of funds and the goods are destined for the home country of the beneficial owner of the funds;
    9. i)Preference must be given to settle such transactions through bank, either by cheque or via bank transfer, instead of accepting cash;
    10. j)The name of beneficial owner of funds must be printed on the receipt in addition to the information of the remitter as per Paragraph 16.11.5 of this Chapter;
    11. k)The Licensed Person must collect the original Bill of Lading/Airway Bill for post transaction verification whenever it is issued. A copy of the original Bill of Lading/Airway Bill certified as “Original Sighted and Verified” under the signature of the employee who carries out the KYC Process must be retained;
    12. l)The Licensed Person must track the movement of goods via an appropriate container/vessel tracking system in all cases of such remittance transactions. Appropriate logs and evidences must be maintained by the Licensed Person for such tracking;
    13. m)All such transactions must be closely monitored by the Compliance Officer. The systems must have the capability to support monitoring of such transactions and must generate necessary exception reports and alerts;
    14. n)In case of any doubt or confusion regarding the documents submitted or information provided by the beneficial owner of funds, remitter or representative, then the Licensed Person must exit the relationship and the case must be reported to the FID immediately; and
    15. o)The authorized person who carries out the transaction (i.e. the representative) on behalf of the legal entity in the UAE must be a resident in the UAE.
  7. 16.14.7The Licensed Person must not accept any transactions from a natural person, who is acting in personal capacity, on behalf of any foreign entity or a natural person who is a UAE Non-Resident.