Dec.25, 2009

Indonesia’s capital markets watchdog on Thursday revised a 2007 regulation requiring non-bank financial services providers to tighten risk profiling of their customers to guard against money laundering and the funding of terrorism.

Financial services providers are now required to submit guidelines on how they will implement the so-called “know your customers” policy to the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) and to update their data on existing customers.

Brokerage firms, fund managers and custody banks (financial institutions responsible for safeguarding a firm or individual’s financial assets) are affected by the new regulation. Banks are not affected as they are supervised by Bank Indonesia.

The “know your customers principle” includes knowing customers’ identities and backgrounds, monitoring their accounts and transactions and reporting suspicious transactions, said Bapepam-LK chairman Fuad Rahmany, in a statement released on Thursday.

The agency also urged financial firms to increase their awareness of money laundering and transactions that may fund terrorist activity.

The financial companies are now required to conduct “enhanced due diligence” of customers categorized as having a high risk of money laundering or being linked to terrorism.

Customers classified as high risk include those in high-risk business sectors and countries as well as people and organizations on terrorist lists, Fuad said, adding that the agency also prohibits financial service providers from keeping any fictitious customer accounts.

Firms must inform Bapepam-LK about their “know your customers” guidelines by June 30 and must send the agency an updated customer database by the last day of 2010.

Financial services providers involved in the capital markets will also be required to report any suspicious transactions to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), Faud said.

“We are working with PPATK on compiling a list of countries that allow money laundering,” said Nurhaida, the director of Bapepam-LK’s transaction and securities bureau.

The PPATK has long been concerned about money laundering in domestic capital markets after receiving suspicious transactions reports from securities firms, although it has failed so far to prove its suspicions.

“We support this regulation to attempt to prevent money laundering in the capital markets,” said Abi Prayadi, the head of the Mutual Fund Managers Association.

Yanuar Risky, an independent market analyst, said money laundering was evident in the country’s capital markets.

“There are indicators showing that money laundering has occurred in the stock market,” he said.

While the number of investor accounts at certain brokerage firms had only increased slowly, the number of stock transactions had more than doubled, meaning the same stock was changing hands more times, possibly pointing to money laundering, he said.

Money laundering was likely taking place through Bakrie Group and banking stocks, which dominate the market, he said.