CAs may have to implement KYC norms for all clients

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will soon ask its members to implement know-your-client (KYC) norms for all their clients — both foreign and domestic. “For anti-money laundering purposes and also to ensure that terror funds are prevented, we will ask our members to maintain details of all clients. Before taking up a client, they will have to collect and keep records on details like PAN numbers, Director Identification Numbers, connections with foreign entities and holdings in entities abroad etc”, the ICAI President, Mr G. Ramaswamy, told Business Line. All practicing CAs would be urged to undertake KYC even for non-audit clients who may want to avail themselves of services such as consultancy, tax representation, company formation etc. Mr Ramaswamy said that the ICAI's central council had only few days ago given its nod for the proposal, “which will only be recommendatory for our members”. In this regard, the Institute will soon finalise a two-page form, which members can use for the KYC exercise. The Government had, earlier, written to professional institutes like ICAI to devise mechanisms for its members to have KYC. This was being suggested from the perspective of addressing the problem of money-laundering and related issue of terror funds.