Section 37 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 (CJA) as amended, requires us to identify Politically Exposed Persons, or any individual who is an immediate family member or a close associate of a Politically Exposed Person, prior to establishing a business relationship with a member or carrying out a transaction.
A PEP is classed to be any person who has within the previous year held a prominent public function, whether Irish resident of not. It can include any of the following individuals (but not any middle ranking or more junior officials).
• An ambassador, charge d’affairs or high-ranking officer in the armed forces;
• A head of state, head of government, government minister or deputy/assistant government minister;
• A member of a parliament or of a similar legislative body;
• A member of the governing body of a political party;
• A member of a supreme court, constitutional court or other high-level judicial body whose decisions, other than in exceptional circumstances, are not subject to appeal;
• A member of a court of auditors or of the board of a central bank;
• A member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of a state-owned enterprise;
• A director, deputy director or member of the Board of, or person performing the equivalent function in relation to an international organisation
This definition is extended to include family members and known close associates of a PEP. These are commonly called RCAs – Relatives or Close Associates and the rules that apply to PEPs apply also to RCAs.
Family members include spouses, partners, parent, sibling, child, partner, or spouse of the child.
Known associates include any individual who has joint beneficial ownership of a legal entity with a PEP or any individual who has sole beneficial ownership of a legal entity set up for the actual benefit of the PEP.