Notice No. 3/GBM/2007 of 28 February - Client Identification Documents in Financial Operations

NOTICE NO. 3/GBM/2007
SUBJECT: CLIENT IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS IN FINANCIAL OPERATIONS

Decree No. 1/2006, of February 28, amended Article 8 of the Regulation approved by Decree No. 37/2004, of September 8, and expanded the range of official documents required for client identification in financial operations. It granted credit institutions, under paragraph 5 of the same Article 8, the option to authorize client identification using other means, different from those listed in the aforementioned Decree, as admitted by banking practice and usage, namely personal knowledge and sponsorship by witnesses.

Given the need to harmonize the instruments related to the implementation of the aforementioned legal command, the Bank of Mozambique, using the powers conferred upon it by item d) of paragraph 2 of Article 37 of Law No. 1/92 - Organic Law of the Bank, of January 3, determines:

ARTICLE 1
(Scope of Application)
This Notice applies to banks and other credit institutions and financial societies under the supervision of the Bank of Mozambique, hereinafter referred to as financial institutions.

ARTICLE 2
(Duty to Possess Internal Regulation on Client Identification Documents)

1. All financial institutions must possess an internal regulation that clearly lists the identification documents required from clients and mentioned in Article 8 of Decree No. 37/2004, of September 8, with the wording updated by Decree No. 1/2006, of February 28.
2. The aforementioned regulation may expressly indicate other means of client identification, such as:
   a) Those admitted by banking practice and usage, namely personal knowledge and sponsorship by witnesses; b) The Identification Card of the Asylum Applicant issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation - MINEC; c) The Identification Declaration of the Refugee Applicant issued by the National Institute for Refugee Support - INAR.

ARTICLE 3
(Duty to Send Regulation to the Bank of Mozambique) A copy of the Internal Regulation must be sent to the Bank of Mozambique - Banking Supervision Department within the period referred to in the following article.

ARTICLE 4
(Deadline and Duty of Public Availability)
Financial institutions must have the regulation referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Notice within 90 calendar days, counted from the start of validity indicated in Article 5, and have a copy available for public consultation.

ARTICLE 5
(Start of Validity)
This Notice enters into force thirty days after the date of its publication and revokes all previous provisions that contradict it.

ARTICLE 6
(Clarification of Doubts)
Doubts arising in the interpretation and application of this Notice must be submitted to the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Mozambique.

Maputo, February 28, 2007

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Ernesto Gouveia Gove
Governor