logo    CDD FAQ - Trusts AMLHub Frequently Asked Questions





General

Where you are acting for Public Trust in these circumstances, they will generally be acting as an executor of an estate. Public Trust therefore will be considered your client and subsequently you will need to conduct CDD on Public Trust, rather than any of the recipients of the estate property.

As Public Trust is a governmental agency, they are subject to simplified customer due diligence (CDD)(Simplified CDD). For simplified CDD, there is no requirement to identify or verify beneficial ownership of the client, however you will need to identify the person acting on behalf of the client. This will typically be the Public Trust representative who has signed the agency agreement on behalf of the Public Trust, or anyone else giving you instructions in regard to the sale of the property. Therefore, you will need to collect the following:

  1. Client’s full name – specifically Public Trust.
  2. Confirmation of how the client qualifies for Simplified CDD – this may be an extract from their website, for example confirming that Public Trust is a governmental agency.
  3. Person acting on behalf of – full name, date of birth and address.
  4. Person acting on behalf of – authority to act on behalf of customer (i.e. how do you know they are able to provide instruction or sign the agency agreement, this may be an email signature or letter they can present you).
You will need to verify the individual acting on behalf of Public Trust’s name and date of birth using a document such as a passport.

Where you deal commonly with the same representative, you will be able to re-use the CDD information across multiple deals which would make the process more efficient.

Where you have professional trustees you deal with on a regular basis, you will not need to onboard them each time they are associated with a new deal. Instead, you can refer in the AMLHub to the files uploaded when they were originally on-boarded, where their CDD documents are retained.

You will only need to collect new CDD documentation for a professional trustee where their documentation has expired or you are aware of any changes. For example, if they have moved and their residential address if no longer correct.

Onboarding

When a trust is your client, you will need to first obtain a copy of the trust deed and any associated amendments to the trust deed.

You will need to confirm the following information:

  1. Full name of the trust - this will be noted in the trust deed.
  2. Full business name of the trustee in respect of the trust (if applicable).
  3. Address of the trust (note not all trusts will have an address, if the trust does not have an address you will need to note this). You will need to verify the trust’s address against supporting documents.
  4. For named beneficiaries - where there are less than 10 beneficiaries, obtain their name and date of birth. There is no requirement to verify these individuals (so no need to collect identity documentation).
  5. For discretionary trusts or where there are more than 10 beneficiaries, simply obtain and record the class of each type of beneficiary, this will usually be recorded in the trust deed.
Additionally, you need to do CDD in line with the requirements for individuals/natural persons on the following:
  1. Trustees
  2. Settlors
  3. Executor
Our CDD webinars include worked examples of how to onboard a trust client, please refer to the following links:
  1. CDD for Compliance officers https://youtu.be/dEVOpyTWelI
  2. AMLHub and CDD for sales (Part One) https://youtu.be/97RQ8dIrDFQ
  3. AMLHub and CDD for sales (Part Two) https://youtu.be/Xu_qLAv39uA
Please refer to your AML Compliance Officer and AML/CFT Compliance Programme and the Trusts Fact Sheet available on the DIA or AML Solutions website for further information regarding trust type clients.

Verification

You can refer to the trust deed to verify the address of a trust. You should take steps to confirm this is the current address. If the trust does not have and address, you will need to record this clearly. Note you will need to obtain the residential address for each of the beneficial owners of the trust typically this will be the trustees and the settlors of the trust.

If you are unable to obtain the full trust deed, you need to collect the pages that outline who the settlors, trustees and beneficiaries are. You also need to obtain details of any amendments that were made to the trust deed after the original was set up.

Beneficiaries

Generally real estate activities would not require you to identify and verify beneficiaries of a trust. Instead, you will need to do the following:

  1. For named beneficiaries where there are less than 10 beneficiaries: obtain their name and date of birth. There is no requirement to verify these individuals (so no need to collect identity documentation).
  2. For discretionary trusts or where there are more than 10 beneficiaries: simply obtain and record the class of each type of beneficiary, this will usually be recorded in the trust deed.