Client Identification – UK Companies The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 oblige solicitors and other professionals to obtain satisfactory evidence of their client’s identity. To enable us to comply with our due diligence requirements under the Regulations we respectfully request that you provide us with the appropriate forms of ID as set out below. If the Company is regulated If the company is listed on a regulated market or is a regulated entity, you do not need to provide us with any identity documents as listed below. Instead we simply need details of the regulatory body and their professional directory. If the Company is not on a regulated market or not a regulated entity, we require all of the following
A copy of the Certificate of Incorporation
Memorandum and Articles of Association
A list of the Directors and Shareholders of the company with their names and home addresses (normally contained within the Annual Return)
The three items above are normally filed at Companies House and are available to the public.
ID for at least two directors (unless a sole director) as set out below
ID for any person or corporate entity holding over 25% shares in the company as set out below*
*If a corporate entity has a 25% or more controlling interest in the client company, we must receive all of the documents (as above) for that controlling entity and repeat the process until we reach the ultimate beneficial owners and understand the overall corporate structure. If the two Directors and/or any individual(s) holding over 25% shares in the company are regulated professionals If the directors or shareholders are professionals who are regulated by a regulatory body (e.g. SRA, FCA, ICAEW, GMC) then you do not need to provide us with any identity documents as listed below. Instead we simply need details of the regulatory body and their professional directory.
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If the two Directors and/or any individual(s) holding over 25% shares in the company are NOT regulated professionals, we require the following To verify name and identity (ONE OF THE FOLLOWING)
Valid passport
Photocard driving licence (provided not used as evidence of address)
National ID card
Firearms and Shotgun certificate
AND, To verify address (ONE OF THE FOLLOWING)
Utility Bill [mobile phone not sufficient] (no more than 3 months old)
Bank/Building Society/Mortgage statement (no more than 3 months old)
Current Council Tax Bill
Current tenancy agreement
Photocard driving licence (provided not used as evidence of identity)
National ID card (provided address is shown and not used as evidence of identity)
Certification of Documents It is a requirement that all forms of ID are certified. If you intend to visit our offices in the next few days, please bring the forms of ID with you and we will arrange for a copy to be taken and certified. If you are sending us the above documents then you will need to arrange for a certified copy to be made and send us the original certified version. The following persons are authorised to certify documents: -
notary public
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legal professional
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tax adviser or accountant
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insolvency practitioner
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a credit or financial institution
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a post office
26 January 2016
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