RBI revises KYC norms to co-ordinate with money laundering rules

The Reserve Bank of India announced changes to the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms to align them with recent amendments carried out in the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules and revised certain existing instructions.

According to the Amendment to the Master Direction - Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016, regulated entities (REs) will have to apply the customer due diligence (CDD) procedure at the unique customer identification code (UCIC) level.

"Thus, if an existing KYC-compliant customer of a RE desires to open another account or avail any other product or service from the same RE, there shall be no need for a fresh CDD exercise as far as identification of the customer is concerned," it said.

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The revised provisions in the Master Direction are now effective immediately, according to a circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Additionally, amendments have been made concerning the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedure and the sharing of Know Your Customer (KYC) information with the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR).

"Whenever the RE obtains additional or updated information from any customer...the RE shall within seven days or within such period as may be notified by the Central Government, furnish the updated information to CKYCR, which shall update the KYC records of the existing customer in CKYCR," the RBI said.

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