Recently, a regulation on personal cash deposit and withdrawal has aroused heated discussion on the Internet. The regulation requires that if commercial banks, rural cooperative banks, rural credit cooperatives, rural banks and other financial institutions handle a single cash deposit and withdrawal business of more than 50000 yuan or a foreign currency equivalent of more than 10000 US dollars for natural person customers, they should identify and verify the identity of the customers, Understand and register the source or purpose of funds.
Some netizens believe that this makes the deposit and withdrawal procedures more cumbersome and brings trouble to business handling; Some netizens believe that this will infringe on the privacy of residents. In response to the relevant questions, the relevant person in charge of the people's Bank of China recently interpreted the impact of the introduction of the provisions.
The person in charge said that statistically, the number of cash deposit and withdrawal businesses with more than 50000 yuan in China currently accounts for only about 2% of all cash deposit and withdrawal businesses. Generally speaking, the provisions of Article 10 of the measures for the administration of customer due diligence and the preservation of customer identity data and transaction records of financial institutions have little impact on customers' handling of cash business. The implementation of this provision by financial institutions will not affect the normal cash deposit and withdrawal business of residents, and the business convenience will not be affected. The main purpose of the provisions is to prevent and curb illegal and criminal activities such as money laundering and protect the safety and interests of the people's funds.
The main purpose of is to prevent and curb illegal and criminal activities such as money laundering
This regulation comes from the measures for the administration of customer due diligence and the preservation of customer identity data and transaction records of financial institutions jointly issued by the people's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission on January 26 (order [2022] No. 1 of the people's Bank of China Bank Of China Limited(601988) Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, hereinafter referred to as "order 1"), The measures shall come into force as of March 1, 2022.
According to the financial news of China Central Television, the heads of relevant departments and bureaus of the people's Bank of China recently interpreted the provisions on personal cash deposit and withdrawal in Article 10 of order No. 1. The official said that the main purpose of implementing order No. 1 is to prevent and curb illegal and criminal activities such as money laundering and protect the safety and interests of the people's funds.
In recent years, telecommunications fraud, illegal fund-raising, illegal pyramid schemes, cross-border gambling, underground banks and other illegal and criminal activities have been rampant, seriously endangering the interests of the people. In 2021 alone, public security organs investigated more than 370000 cases of telecommunications fraud, with victims all over the country. Among them, a prominent feature is that criminals prefer to use cash for trading activities by taking advantage of the anonymity and difficulty of tracking cash. Properly strengthening the management of cash deposit and withdrawal activities by financial institutions according to law is conducive to preventing illegal and criminal activities and protecting the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people.
From practical experience, in recent years, China's financial institutions have continuously strengthened the risk management of money laundering, found many cases suspected of illegal and criminal activities, and protected the people's capital security.
For example, in September 2021, an elderly couple went to a bank in Zhengzhou to withdraw 95000 yuan. When the bank staff asked about the purpose of withdrawal, the old man told them to buy health products. For fear that the old man would be cheated, the staff repeatedly persuaded the old man to beware of being cheated. During this period, because the old man couldn't get a large amount of cash without his ID card, the old man said that someone from the health products company sent him to get the money, and insisted that the personnel of the health products company send him home to get his ID card. The staff kept persuading and pacifying the old lady and contacting the police when the uncle came home to get his ID card. Finally, after the dissuasion of the police and staff, the economic loss of 95000 yuan was recovered for the elderly.
For another example, in September 2018, an old man, accompanied by a man in his 30s, asked to withdraw 100000 yuan from a bank in Wuhan. During the withdrawal process, the old man was evasive about the purpose of the money and had different opinions on the relationship with the same man, while the man only looked at the old man from a distance, which was more abnormal. In the spirit of being responsible to customers, the bank staff advised the elderly to contact their families to confirm the withdrawal and call the police at the same time. Before the police arrived, the man left the bank. Finally, I learned that the man added wechat friends for the elderly online and introduced the so-called "high interest" financial business. In this case, the bank's understanding of the use of funds avoided economic losses for the elderly.
The relevant person in charge of the central bank once said that in recent years, with the changes in financial products and business models, there have been some new challenges in the anti money laundering work of the financial industry. In order to improve China's risk prevention ability of money laundering and terrorist financing, it is necessary to further improve the anti money laundering supervision system and strengthen the anti money laundering supervision by formulating the above measures.
The above person in charge said that at present, the customer due diligence of financial institutions does not fully reflect the concept of "risk-based", so it is necessary to further emphasize the risk-based customer due diligence measures to improve the efficiency of financial services on the basis of preventing the use of the financial system to engage in money laundering and other criminal activities. According to the international assessment of anti money laundering, China needs to further clarify the relevant requirements for customer due diligence of financial institutions and the preservation of customer identity data and transaction records, and constantly improve the anti money laundering supervision system. The formulation of the above measures is conducive to the integration with international anti money laundering standards.
will not affect residents' normal cash deposit and withdrawal business
the above person in charge said that the implementation of the provisions by financial institutions will not affect the normal cash deposit and withdrawal business of residents, and the business convenience will not be affected.
The deposit and withdrawal business of residents' legitimate income has been strictly protected by law in China. The "voluntary deposit" and "freedom of withdrawal" are clearly stipulated in the commercial bank law, which are also the basic principles that financial institutions should follow in handling cash deposit and withdrawal business. The implementation of the relevant provisions of order No. 1 by financial institutions will not affect the normal cash deposit and withdrawal business of individuals.
In recent years, in order to prevent illegal and criminal activities such as telecommunications fraud and money laundering, many financial institutions have made necessary understanding and tips on the source and purpose of funds when handling large cash deposit and withdrawal business from the customer-centered concept, and formed some experience and practices. When studying and drafting Order No. 1, the financial management department summarized and unified the relevant practices of financial institutions, which is also conducive to maintaining the consistency of business handling norms of financial institutions.
Under normal circumstances, financial institutions do not need customers to fill in information or provide supporting materials. After simple inquiry and understanding, financial institutions can directly handle cash deposit and withdrawal business for customers and register relevant information. Only when the transaction is obviously abnormal and there are reasonable reasons to suspect that the transaction involves illegal and criminal activities such as money laundering, can they further understand the situation from customers.
In the next step, the people's Bank of China will guide financial institutions to formulate implementation rules. While earnestly fulfilling their anti money laundering obligations, they should strictly implement the minimum and necessary principle to understand and register customer information, and shall not increase the burden on customers. Especially for the elderly and other groups who use more cash, financial institutions should take the initiative to provide more friendly and convenient services. At the same time, we should also pay attention to strengthening fraud prevention and financial knowledge publicity.
personal information and customer privacy are protected by law
the person in charge also responded to some residents' concerns about privacy protection.
"Confidentiality for depositors" is the basic principle established in the commercial bank law. Financial institutions must strictly keep confidential the personal information and customer privacy obtained in the process of business handling.
In addition to complying with the requirements of general laws such as the civil code and the personal information protection law, financial institutions also need to establish a strict and complete customer information confidentiality system in accordance with the requirements of financial supervision laws such as the commercial bank law and the anti money laundering law. For divulging personal information and customer privacy, the bank and its staff shall bear legal responsibility, and bear criminal responsibility if the circumstances are serious.
The people's Bank of China will continue to pay attention to and guide financial institutions to strictly implement relevant regulations, grasp the balance between risk prevention and service optimization, and strictly protect citizens' personal information and privacy.
complies with international anti money laundering standards
Order No. 1 is a departmental regulation formulated in accordance with the anti money laundering law, the Anti Terrorism Law and other laws and regulations to prevent and curb money laundering and terrorist financing activities, and regulate the customer due diligence, customer identity data and transaction record preservation of financial institutions. It directly regulates financial institutions.
The relevant provisions on personal cash deposit and withdrawal business in order No. 1 comply with the requirements of the current international anti money laundering standards, which is an internationally accepted practice to prevent money laundering activities. The international anti money laundering standard of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) clearly requires that financial institutions should conduct due diligence on cash transactions exceeding a certain amount, and China, as its member, should implement the requirements of the international anti money laundering standard. At present, major countries in the world have similar requirements for cash transactions of more than a certain amount.
"Strengthening the management of cash deposit and withdrawal business is a requirement for financial institutions to fulfill their anti money laundering obligations, which is in line with the international standards of anti money laundering." The official said
