China Insurance Regulatory Commission, Measures for the Administration of the Anti-money Laundering Work in the Insurance Industry

中国保险监督管理委员会保险业反洗钱工作管理办法

November 08, 2011 | BY

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New anti-money laundering measures prohibit equity investment from unlawful fund sources.

Clp Reference: 3910/11.09.13 Promulgated: 2011-09-13 Effective: 2011-10-01

Promulgated: September 13 2011
Effective: October 1 2011
Interpreting authority: China Insurance Regulatory Commission

Applicability: The Measures apply to insurance companies, insurance asset management companies and their (sub-)branches, and dedicated insurance agencies, insurance brokerages and their branches, and financial institutions that engage in the insurance agency business as a sideline (Article 3).

Main contents: When applying to establish an insurance company or insurance asset management company, the following requirements on anti-money laundering shall be satisfied:

(i) having a lawful source of investment funds;

(ii) having established an internal control system for anti-money laundering;

(iii) having established a dedicated anti-money laundering department or designated an internal department to be responsible for anti-money laundering work;

(iv) having employed personnel for the anti-money laundering department or posts, who have received the necessary training on anti-money laundering; and

(v) having information system establishment that meets the requirements on anti-money laundering (Article 7).

Where there is an increase in the registered capital or a change in equity (unless the shares of the listed organisation purchased through the stock exchange are less than 5% of the registered capital), the insurance company or insurance asset management company should have known the source of investment funds, and shall submit an account of the source of the funds and a declaration on the lawfulness of the source of the funds (Article 11).

Insurance companies shall, in accordance with the law, authenticate the identity of customers for business over the specified amounts in the course of concluding and terminating insurance contracts, and handling claims and payments (Article 16). When an insurance company engages in insurance businesses through a dedicated insurance agency, or a financial institution that engages in insurance agency business as a sideline, it shall include anti-money laundering clauses in the cooperation agreement. While insurance companies undertake the ultimate liability for failure to perform its obligation of authenticating customers' identity, dedicated insurance agencies, insurance brokerages, and financial institutions that engage in the insurance agency business as a sideline, shall undertake the corresponding liability (Article 22). The insurance regulator will, in accordance with the law, conduct anti-money laundering reviews on newly-established insurance institutions, investment funds for equity stakes, and the employment qualifications of the relevant personnel, and will not grant approval to those that fail to meet the requirements (Article 31).

Related legislation: PRC Anti-money Laundering Law, Oct 31 2006, CLP 2006 No.10 p.39; and PRC Insurance Law (Amended), Feb 28 2009, CLP 2009 No.3 p.35

clp reference:3910/11.09.13promulgated:2011-09-13effective:2011-10-01

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