The Reserve Bank of India has issued comprehensive guidelines on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards and has advised all NBFCs to ensure that a proper policy framework on KYC and AML measures be formulated and put in place with the approval of the Board. The objective of RBI guidelines is to prevent NBFCs being used, intentionally or unintentionally by criminal elements for money laundering activities. The guidelines also mandate making reasonable efforts to determine the identity and beneficial ownership of accounts, source of funds, the nature of customer's business, reasonableness of operations in the account in relation to the customer's business, etc. which in turn helps the Company to manage its risks prudently. Accordingly, the main objective of this policy is to enable the Company to have positive identification of its customers. Accordingly, in compliance with the guidelines issued by RBI from time to time, the following KYC & AML policy of the Company is approved by the Board of Directors of the Company. This policy is applicable to all categories of products and services offered by the Company.
The scope of this policy is:
To fulfil the scope, the following four key elements will be incorporated into our policy:
A "Person" shall have the meaning as defined under KYC policy of RBI (and any amendment from time to time by RBI) which at present is as follows:
'Person' shall include:
Following norms and procedures will be followed by the Company in relation to its customers who approach the Company for availing financial facilities. While taking decision to grant any one or more facilities to customers as well as during the continuation of any loan account of the customer, the following norms will be adhered to by the Company:
i. No loan account will be opened, and / or money will be disbursed in a name which is anonymous or fictitious or appears to be a name borrowed only for opening the loan account i.e. Benami Account. The Company shall insist on sufficient proof about the identity of the customer to ensure his physical and legal existence at the time of accepting the application form from any customer.
ii. No Loan account will be opened where VCPL is unable to apply appropriate Customer Due Diligence measures, either due to non-cooperation of the customer or non-reliability of the documents/information furnished by the customer.
iii. Circumstances, in which a customer is permitted to act on behalf of another person /entity, shall be clearly spelt out in conformity with the established law and practices, as there could be occasions when an account is operated by a mandate holder or where an account may be opened by intermediary in a fiduciary capacity.
iv. The Company shall not open any account or give / sanction any loan or close an existing account where the Company is unable to apply appropriate due diligence measures arising due to any of the following circumstances:
v. Subject to the above-mentioned norms and caution, at the same time all the employees of Company will also ensure that the above norms and safeguards do not result in any kind of harassment or inconvenience to bona fide and genuine customers who should not feel discouraged while dealing with the Company.
vi. The Risk Team shall, at the time of approving a financial transaction/activity, or executing any transaction, verify the record of identity, signature proof and proof of current address or addresses including permanent address of the customer. For co-lending loans, this shall be verified by the NBFC partner. The Company shall however maintain a repository of KYC documents of borrowers under the co-lending programme as well.
vii. Suitable system is put in place to ensure that the identity of the customer does not match with any person or entity, whose name appears in the sanctions lists circulated by Reserve Bank of India.
viii. Where an equivalent e-document is obtained from the customer, the Company shall verify the digital signature as per the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000)
i. The Company shall categorize its customers based on the risk perceived by the Company. The levels of categorization would be Low Risk, Medium Risk and High Risk. The risk categorization would be a function of the industry the borrower operates in, the geography in which the borrower operates, the shareholding pattern of the entity etc.
ii. The profile of new customers will be prepared on risk categorization basis. Such profile will contain he following information about the new customers:
iii. There will be level-wise categorization of customers i.e. Level-I, Level-II and Level-III. Such levels will be decided based on risk element involved in each case which will be determined by considering the following information submitted by the customer:
iv. Information to be collected from the customers will vary according to categorization of customer from the point of view of risk perceived. However, while preparing customer profile the Company shall seek only such information from the customer which is relevant to the risk category and is not intrusive to the customer. Any other information from the customer should be sought separately with his/her consent and after opening the account.
v. For risk categorization, individual (other than High Net Worth) and entities whose sources of wealth can be easily identified and transactions in whose accounts by and large confirm to the known profile, may be categorized as low risk or Level-I category. Normally Level-I customers would be
vi. Cases where the Company is likely to incur higher than average risk will be categorized as medium or high-risk customers and will be placed in medium or high risk category i.e. Level-II or Level-III category. While placing the customers in the above categories, the Company will give due consideration to the following aspects:
In such cases, the Company will apply higher due diligence measures keeping in view the risk level.
vii. Special care and diligence will be taken and exercised in respect of those customers who happen to be high profile and/or Politically Exposed Persons ("PEP") within or outside country. Such persons will include:
About the accounts of PEPs, in the event of an existing customer or the beneficial owner of an existingaccount subsequently becoming PEP, the Company shall obtain Credit Committee approval in such cases to continue the business relationship with such person, and undertake enhanced monitoring.
viii. The extent of due diligence requirement will vary from case to case as the same will depend upon risk perceived by the Company while granting credit facilities to customers. For the purpose of preparing customer profile only such relevant information from the customers will be sought based on which the Company can easily decide about the risk category in which the customers are to be placed. Ordinarily, the customer profile maintained by the Company will be kept confidential except for cases where the customer himself allows and/or gives consent for the use of the information given in customer profile / application form for offering other products / services of other companies / entities belonging to the Company's group or any other legal entity with whom the Company is having any business tie-ups. However, while taking any such permission or consent of the customer for using his above referred information provided to the Company, it will be ensured that such permission / consent of the customer is unambiguous and explicit.
ix. Cases in which the risk level is higher will require intensive due diligence exercise. Such cases will include those where the sources of funds to be used for business operations or sources to repay the loan to the Company are not clearly disclosed or cannot be ascertained from the financial statements submitted by the customer to the Company. Besides above, some of such customers in whose cases the Company will require higher due diligence measures, especially those for whom the source of funds is not clear, are mentioned below:
The following due diligence must also be performed on prospective Business Partners.
A) Verify Identity:
B) Verify Source of Income:
The Company shall maintain files on each Business Partner with copies of all data obtained and memorialize in writing all the verification efforts. These files may be maintained electronically and should be accessible quickly when needed.
In addition to above, adequate due diligence shall be carried for co-lending partners. In cases, where co-lending partners are existing clients of the Company, reliance may be placed on existing procedures and reports. However, the Company shall have a separate record maintenance for all co- lending partners incorporating background information necessary for conducting due diligence and substantiate the business arrangement.
The Company shall perform the following Due Diligence on Prospective Employees prior to their date of joining
A) Verify Identity:
i. Obtain originals of and file legible copies of identification documents that contain photographs of theindividual. Acceptable examples include:
B) Verify Domicile of Residence:
C) Verify the previous year's Employment Record:
D) Check References:
The purpose of adopting the above measures and norms while taking decisions on the issue of customeracceptance is twofold. Firstly, the Company should not suffer financially at later stage due to lack of proper due diligence exercise and lack of information which is the exclusive possession of the customers. Secondly, to curb and prevent any such practice by the customers which is aimed to achieve unlawful objectives or any other practice by which the financial institutions can be used to perpetuate any criminal or unlawful activities. However, at the same time, this policy does not aim or intend to deny the benefit of financial services to those who genuinely need such services / facilities due to real lack of their own sufficient financial resources.
Customer identification means identifying the customer and verifying his / her identity by using reliable, independent source documents, data or information. The Company needs to obtain sufficient information necessary to establish, to their satisfaction, the identity of each new customer, whether regular or occasional and the purpose of the intended nature of relationship. Being risk perception, the nature of information / documents required would also depend on the type of the customer (individual,corporate etc.)
A detailed list of the features to be verified and documents that may be obtained from the Customers are given in Master Direction - Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 of this policy document. A Photostat copy of the proofs should be filed along with the loan application. In case of need, the Company Manager can depute an official to visit the account holder / loan applicant at the given address to satisfy about the genuineness of the address.
As per the Clause 18 of the amended Master Direction on KYC dated 10th May 2021, the company shall undertake V-CIP to carry out the following:
Further the Company shall adhere to the minimum standards specified in the Master Directions amendment w.r.t V-CIP infrastructure, procedure, record and data management. The Company shall take assistance of Banking Correspondents (BCs) in facilitating the V-CIP only at the customer end. However, the company shall maintain the details of the BC assisting the customer, incase the service of BCs are utilized. The ultimate responsibility for customer due diligence will be with the Company.
As per the provisions of Rule 9 of the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records of the Nature and Value of Transactions, The Procedure and Manner of Maintaining and Time for Furnishing Information and Verification and Maintenance of Records of the Identity of the Clients of the Banking Companies, Financial Institutions and Intermediaries) Rules, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as PML Rules), the Company shall:
In terms of proviso to rule 9 of the PML Rules, the relaxation, in verifying the identity of the client within a reasonable time after opening the account / execution of the transaction, stands withdrawn. Abiding by the provisions of Rule 9, the Company shall identify the beneficial owner and take all reasonable steps to verify his identity. The said Rule also require that the Company should exercise ongoing due diligence with respect to the business relationship with every client and closely examine the transactions to ensure that they are consistent with their knowledge of the customer, his business and risk profile. Customer identification requirements shall be as per the provisions of the said rule.
As per the amendment to Master Direction on KYC dated 10th May 2021, the Company has adopted a risk-based approach for periodic updation of KYC in the following manner:
| S.NO | Basis Risk category | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | High risk customers | Once in every two years from the date of opening of the account / last KYC updation |
| 2 | Medium risk customers | Once in every eight years from the date of opening of the account / last KYC updation |
| 3 | Low risk customers | Once in every ten years from the date of opening of the account / last KYC updation |
The company shall obtain self-declaration from Individual customers and non- Individual customers incase of no change in their KYC details. However, incase of change in address of individual customer a self-declaration of such change and proof of new address to be obtained and the declared address shall be verified through positive confirmation within two months, by means such as address verification letter, contact point verification, deliverables etc.
The Company shall obtain a copy of OVD or deemed OVD or the equivalent e-documents thereof, as defined in Section 3(a)(xiii) of Master Direction on KYC, for the purpose of proof of address, declared by the customer at the time of periodic updation.
Incase of change in KYC information of non-individual customer, the Company shall undertake a KYC process which shall be equivalent to on-boarding a new customer.
It is equally essential for the Company to have a clear knowledge and understanding about the normal working pattern and activity of the customer so that the Company can identify all such unusual transactions which would fall outside the normal transactions of the customer. To achieve this purpose, ongoing monitoring is necessary. The extent of such monitoring will depend upon the level of risk involved in a particular account. Any transaction or activity of the customer whichgives rise to suspicion will be given special attention. Such monitoring is important to keep a check on any act or omission of the customer which may amount to money laundering or support any act relatingto use of finance for criminal activities.
A suspicious transaction is one for which there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the transaction is related to a money laundering offence or a terrorist activity financing offence. A suspicious transaction can include one that was attempted. Throughout this guideline, any mention of a "transaction" includes one that is either completed or attempted.
"Reasonable grounds to suspect" is determined by what is reasonable in the circumstances, including normal business practices and systems within the industry. There is no monetary threshold for making a report on a suspicious transaction. A suspicious transactionmay involve several factors that may on their own seem insignificant, but together may raise suspicion that the transaction is related to the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering offence, a terrorist activity financing offence, or both. The context in which the transaction occurs or isattempted is a significant factor in assessing suspicion.
An assessment of suspicion should be based on a reasonable evaluation of relevant factors, including the knowledge of the customer's business, financial history, background and behaviour.
An illustrative (but not exhaustive) list of suspicious transactions is furnished in "Annexure-1".
The Compliance Team in co-ordination with the Institutional Business Team should review the STR Reports generated by the AML system and finalize the transactions to be reported as STR. The Compliance Team is responsible for reporting the same to FIU-IND. The AML software has been implemented to monitor suspicious transactions based on criteria defined in the software at a definedfrequency. The following activities will be undertaken in the process of reporting suspicious transactions:
The Company shall ensure the following:
All individual cash transactions in an account during a calendar month, where either debits or credit summation, computed separately, exceeding Rupees Ten Lakhs or its equivalent in foreign currency, during the month should be reported to FIU-IND. However, while filing CTR, details of individual cash transactions below Rupees Fifty Thousand may not be indicated.
The Principal Officer should ensure submission of CTR for every month to FIU-IND before 15th of the succeeding month. CTR should contain only the transactions carried out by the Company on behalf of their clients/customers excluding transactions between the internal accounts of the Company.
A separate Counterfeit Currency Report should be filed for each incident of detection of Counterfeit Indian currency. If the detected counterfeit currency notes can be segregated on the basis of tenderingperson, a separate CCR should be filed for each such incident. These transactions should be reported to Director, Financial Intelligence Unit, India by not later than the 15th of the succeeding month from the date of occurrence of such transactions.
All branches of the Company have been provided with machines for detection of fake notes. In the event any fake or counterfeit note is detected by branch staff, despite taking all precautions; then it must be noted in a cash register separately. Reporting of the case with full details like name of customer, amount, denomination, date - must be reported by branch manager to Compliance Department at HO with copy to National Head- Branch Business and Zonal Head. Compliance to collate all the data and report to NHB / RBI under PMLA, as mentioned above.
The Company will keep a continuous vigil, if any of the following acts or events is noticed in relation tothe customer's approach or behaviour while dealing with the Company:
The Company shall pay special attention to all complex, high-risk, unusually large transactions and all unusual or suspicious patterns which have no apparent economic or visible lawful purpose.
The Company may prescribe threshold limits for a particular category of accounts and pay close attention to the transactions that exceed the prescribed threshold limits. Keeping this in view, the Company shall pay particular attention to the cash transactions which exceed the limits of Rs. 10 lakhs, either per transaction or credit and debit summation in a single month. This would include transaction where the customer by way repayment of loan, whether in part or full, deposit Rs. 10 lakhs and above in cash. Such transactions shall be reported to the Risk Department and the Principal Officer appointedas per this policy. In such cases, the Company shall keep a close and careful watch on the subsequent mode of payments adopted by such customer.
Transactions that involve large amounts of cash inconsistent with the normal and expected activity of the customer shall attract special attention of the Company. Very high account turnover inconsistent with the size of the balance maintained may indicate that funds are being 'washed' through that account. Company shall ensure that proper record of all transactions and cash transactions (deposits and withdrawals) of Rs.10 lakhs and above in the accounts is preserved and maintained as required under the PMLA.
The Company shall introduce a system of maintaining proper record of the following transactions:
The Company shall ensure that it continues to maintain proper record of all cash transactions (deposits and withdrawals) of Rs. 10 lakhs and above. The internal monitoring system shall have an inbuilt procedure for reporting of such transactions and those of suspicious nature whether made in cash or otherwise, to controlling / head office on a fortnightly basis.
The records shall be preserved in the following manner:
The information in respect of the transactions referred to in clauses I, II and III referred above will be submitted to the Director - FIU every month by the 15th day of the succeeding month.
The information in respect of the transactions referred to in clause IV referred above will be furnishedpromptly to the Director - FIU in writing, or by fax or by electronic mail not later than seven working days from the date of occurrence of such transaction.
The information in respect of the transactions referred to in clause V referred above will be furnished promptly by the Director - FIU in writing, or by fax or by electronic mail not later than seven working days on being satisfied that transaction is suspicious.
Strict confidentiality will be maintained by the Company and its employees of the fact of furnishing / reporting details of such suspicious transactions.
As advised by the FIU-IND, New Delhi; the Company will not be required to submit 'NIL' reports in casethere are no Cash / Suspicious Transactions, during a particular period.
The reporting of the requisite information in respect of cash transactions and suspicious transactions shall be as per the provided formats1 and shall be in accordance with the reporting guide provided by FIU-IND. The required information will be furnished by the Company directly to the FIU-IND, through the designated Principal Officer.
High risk accounts shall be subjected to intensified monitoring. The Company shall set key indicators for such high risk accounts, taking note of the background of the customer, which will include country of origin, source of funds, the type of transactions involved (like accounts having unusual transactions,inconsistent turnover, etc) and other risk factors. Additionally, the Company shall put in place a system of periodical review of risk categorization of accounts and the need for applying enhanced due diligencemeasures basis the revised risk categories.
In addition to the Ordinary Monitoring Standards, any high-risk accounts should also receive the following monitoring:
The Company shall monitor and report such transactions in a manner specified in "Annexure 2".
I. For effective implementation of KYC policy there will be a proper co-ordination, communication and understanding amongst all the departments of the Company. The Board of Directors shall ensure that an effective KYC program is put in place by establishing proper procedures and ensuring their effectiveimplementation. Heads of all the Departments will ensure that the respective responsibilities in relation to KYC policy are properly understood, given proper attention and appreciated and discharged with utmost care and attention by all the employees of the Company.
II. The Risk department of the Company will carry out quarterly checks to find out as to whether all features of KYC policy are being followed and adhered to by all the Departments concerned. The Risk Department shall sign off on the KYC documents for corporate entities, before every disbursement. The Company shall also mandatorily include KYC adherence in its internal audit scope every quarter. For co-lending partners, the Company shall carry out sample quarterly KYC sample audit by independent audit firms to assess adherence with the KYC norms.
III. Company will take steps to ensure that its internal auditors are made well versed with this policy that will carry out regular checks about the compliance of KYC procedures by all the branches of the Company. Any lapse or short coming observed by the internal auditors will be brought to the notice ofDepartment Heads concerned. There will be quarterly assessment to check the compliance level by a committee to be constituted by the Board.
IV. Hiring of Employees and Employee training
V. The inadequacy or absence of KYC standards can subject the Company to serious risks especiallyreputational, operational, legal and concentration risks.
All these risks are interrelated. Any one of them can result in significant financial cost to the Company and diverts considerable management time and energy to resolving problems that arise.
For implementing KYC policy, the Company shall have to seek personal and financial information from the new and intended customers at the time they apply for availing the loan facilities. It is likely that any such information, if asked from the intended customer, may be objected to or questioned by the customers. To meet such situation, it is necessary that the customers are educated and appraised about the sanctity and objectives of KYC procedures so that the customers do not feel hesitant or have any reservation while passing on the information to the Company. For this purpose, all the staff members with whom the customers will have their first interaction / dealing will be provided special training to answer any query or questions of the customers and satisfy them while seeking certain information in furtherance of KYC Policy. To educate the customers and win their confidence in this regard, Companymay arrange printed materials containing all relevant information regarding KYC Policy and anti-money laundering measures. Such printed materials will be circulated amongst the customers and in case of any question from any customer, the Company staff will attend the same promptly and provide and explain reason for seeking any specific information and satisfy the customer in that regard.
As part of the KYC and AML Policy, special attention should be paid to any money laundering threats that may arise from new or developing technologies including on-line transactions that might favour anonymity and adequate measures, if needed, should be taken to prevent their use in money laundering schemes. The Principal Officer should ensure to submit CTR for every month to FIU-IND within the prescribed time schedule.
The KYC and AML Policy will also apply to the branches of the Company located abroad, if any. When local applicable laws and regulations prohibit implementation of these guidelines, the same will be brought into the notice of RBI.
Although this KYC Policy will apply and govern all the new and prospective customers; some of the KYC procedures laid down in this policy particularly which deal with Customer Identification, Monitoring ofTransactions and Risk Management can be effectively applied to the existing customers and their loan accounts. While applying such KYC procedures to the existing loan accounts if any unusual pattern is noticed, the same should be brought to the notice of the Department Heads concerned and the Principal Officer appointed by the Company as per RBI directives.
In case any existing customer does not co-operate in providing the information required as per KYC policy or conducts himself in such manner which gives rise to suspicion about his identity or credentials, such matters will be brought to the notice of Principal Officer who in turn will make necessary inquiries and if required shall forward the name of such customers to the authorities concerned for appropriateaction. Besides above, in such situation the Company, for reasons to be recorded, may recall the loan granted to such customers and take recourseto legal remedy against the customers as well as security furnished by such customers.
A "Designated Director" means a person designated by the RE to ensure overall compliance with the obligations imposed under Chapter IV of the PML Act and the Rules and shall be nominated by the Board. (b) The name, designation and address of the Designated Director shall be communicated to the FIU-IND. (c) In no case, the Principal Officer shall be nominated as the 'Designated Director'.
To ensure effective implementation of this KYC Policy and a proper co-ordination and communication between the Company and RBI and other enforcement agencies, the Company shall designate a senior official Principal Officer who will operate from the corporate office of the Company. The job of the Principal Officer will be to maintain an effective communication and liaison with RBI and other enforcement agencies which are involved in the fight against money laundering and combating financing of terrorism, and to take appropriate steps in all such matters which are brought to the notice of the Principal Officer by any department of the Company regard to any suspicious acts or omissions or acts of noncompliance on the part of any customers.
The name of the Principal Officer so designated, his designation and address including changes from time to time, may please be advised to the Director, FUI-IND. Principal Officer shall be located at the Head / Corporate office of the Company. and will be the official responsible for ensuring fraud monitoring and reporting in accordance with Master Direction - Monitoring of Frauds in NBFCs (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016 dated September 29, 2016.
As per the provisions of PMLA, the Company shall maintain records as under:
The Company will ensure that the appropriate steps are taken to evolve a system for proper maintenance and preservation of information in a manner (in hard and soft copy) that allows data to be retrieved easily and quickly whenever required or when requested by the competent authorities.
The Principal Officer is also responsible to continuous monitoring of fraud as per the established monitoring mechanism of the Company and shall ensure submission of all the returns to the Reserve Bank of India and reporting referred to in Master Direction - Monitoring of Frauds in NBFCs (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016.
The Principal Officer will report information relating to cash and suspicious transactions if detected, tothe Director, Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) as advised in terms of the PMLA rules, in the prescribed formats as designed and circulated by RBI at the following address:
Director, FIU-IND, Financial Intelligence Unit,
India,6th Floor, Hotel Samrat, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi - 110021
Where the Principal Officer has reason to believe that a single transaction or series of transactions integrally connected to each other have been valued below the prescribed value to so to defeat the provisions of PMLA rules, such officer shall furnish information in respect of such transactions to the Director, FIU-IND, within the prescribed time.
A copy of all information furnished shall be retained by the Principal Officer for the purposes of official record.
The Company shall ensure that the provisions of PMLA and the Rules framed thereunder and the Foreign Contribution and Regulation Act, 1976, wherever applicable, are adhered to strictly.
Where the Company is unable to apply appropriate KYC measures due to non-furnishing of information and /or non-cooperation by the customer, the Company may consider closing the account or terminating the business relationship after issuing due notice to the customer explaining the reasons for taking such a decision. Such decisions need to be taken at a reasonably senior level.
(A Unit Of Mahashakti Financiers Ltd)
We are an RBI-registered Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).
Head Office: First Floor Plot No:-17, Pocket-8, Block-C, Sector-17, Dwarka New Delhi-110075
Registered Address:- Kahjuria Complex Ward No 15 Kathua Jammu & Kashmir-184102
D&B D-U-N-S Number :86-023-0250
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