At the end of 2001, the European Parliament adopted a Directive (No. 2001/97/EC) which widens the identification and disclosure requirements for unusual transactions. Consequently, the Disclosure of Unusual Transactions Act (MOT) and the Identification (Provision of Services) Act (WID), in force since 1993, have come to include the services provided by civil law notaries, attorneys, tax consultants and accountants since 1 June 2003. Under these statutory requirements, the above-mentioned practitioners and consultants must, in cases designated by law, first identify the client before providing their services.
Natural persons are identified on the basis of a valid passport or driving licence; this is the common procedure used by banks, for example when anybody applies to open an account. Legal entities are identified by a certified extract from the Trade Register at the Chamber of Commerce, and the representatives of legal entities are required to produce proof of their identity. Foreign nationals and foreign legal entities are subject to specific rules and regulations.
Lexence has informed its clients of the entry into force of these identification and disclosure requirements. These allow certain exceptions, such as ‘exploratory’ interviews. In principle, Lexence will require identification for all its services.