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KYC requirements
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The know your customer or know your client (KYC) guidelines and regulations for financial services require that professionals try to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship.

Legal affairs

National regulatory framework regarding AML and effective date of the regulations

The Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (AML/CTF Law), regulates the measures, activities, and procedures that the entities and the competent bodies take for detecting and preventing money laundering, connected crimes, and financing of terrorism, as well as the operation and the competence of the Financial Intelligence Office (Office).

The AML/CTF Law was adopted in 2018 ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia" no. 120/18 and "Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia" nos. 275/19 and 317/20) and is harmonised with the EU Directive 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Prevention of the Use of the Financial System for the Purposes of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing from 2015, amending Regulation (EU) no. Regulation (EC) no. 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Directive 2005/60 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and of Directive 2006/70 / EC of the Commission with CELEX No. 32015L084.

The first AML/CTF Law in Macedonia was adopted in 2004 (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no.46/2004).

National regulator or relevant authority for AML controls

The Office is a state administrative body within the Ministry of Finance, a unit of financial intelligence of the Republic of North Macedonia that oversees the implementation of the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing legislation. The Office is empowered to collect, process, and provide information, and to impose fines on entities that are responsible for implementing know-your-customer procedures.

Supervision of the application of the measures and the activities determined by the AML/CTF Law are conducted by the following supervisory bodies:

  • the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia over the banks, savings houses, exchange offices, and providers of money remittances (fast money transfer) and other financial institutions that provide payment services;
  • the Insurance Supervision Agency in the insurance companies, insurance brokerage companies, companies for insurance representation, insurance brokers, and insurance agents;
  • the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Republic of North Macedonia over the brokerage companies, banks that hold a license to work with securities, persons rendering investment advisory services, companies for management of open, closed, and private investment funds, and in open, closed, and private investment funds;
  • the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance over the companies that manage voluntary pension funds;
  • the Public Revenue Office regarding the organisers of games of chance, the legal entities and natural persons that provide the following services: intermediation in trade with immovables, tax advising, and legal entities that accept movable and immovable items as a pledge;
  • the Postal Agency over the Macedonian Post AD;
  • the Notary Commission within the Notary Chamber of the Republic of North Macedonia over the notaries; and
  • the Lawyers Commission within the Lawyers Chamber of the Republic of North Macedonia over the lawyers and law offices.
The Office supervises the application of the measures and activities determined the AML/CTF Law in the entities that are not covered above. The Public Revenue Office conducts supervision over legal entities an
attorney) and the power of attorney document.

III. Identification and verification of the identity of the beneficial owner

The entities are obliged to identify the beneficial owner.
The entities are obliged to verify the identity of the beneficial owner on the basis of data and information from reliable and independent sources to the extent, which is adequate to the conducted risk assessment, so as to be assured who the beneficial owner is.

The entities will obtain the data on the beneficial owner from the original or verified documentation from a trade, court, or another public register, which must not be older than six (6) months. The entities will be obliged to check the data on the beneficial owner in the register of beneficial owners and must not rely exclusively on the data entered in the register.

If the entities cannot obtain all the data on the beneficial owner of the client from the trade, court or another public register or the register of beneficial owners, they should obtain the necessary data by checking the original or the verified documents and business records submitted by the legal representative of the client, or a person authorised by the legal representative.

If the client is not subject to entry into an appropriate register the entities cannot obtain the necessary data on the beneficial owner in the manner described above, the entities shall be obliged to obtain the data directly from the legal representative or a person authorised by the legal representative by a written statement which is notary verified under full moral and material liability.

If, during the determination of the beneficial owner, the entities have suspicions about the authenticity of the submitted data or the authenticity of the documents or the other business documentation, they will be obliged to require a written statement from the legal representative, or a person authorised by the legal representative which is verified by a notary under full moral and material liability before they establish a business relationship or before they make a transaction. In these cases, the entities are obliged to apply one (1) or several measures for enhanced due diligence.

Possibility to meet customer due diligence requirements by relying on third parties who are obliged by law themselves to comply with AML regulations

In the cases where entities are obliged by law to implement the measures for the client’s due diligence, they could entrust the performance of the measures and actions to third parties. However, the third party must be one (1) of the following: (i) bank; (ii) notary; (iii) company for investment funds management; (iv) an investment fund; (v) company for mandatory and voluntary pension funds management; and (vi) an insurance company carrying out life insurance activities.

Entities that are required to conduct measures for the client’s due diligence (Entities), can entrust the implementation of the following measures and activities to third parties:

    i. identification of the client and verification of its identity by using documents, data, and information from reliable and independent sources, including, where possible, by using electronic identification means issued under the notified electronic identification scheme in accordance with the law;
    ii. identification of the principal of the power of attorney and verification of its identity by using documents, data, and information from reliable and independent sources, including, where possible, by using electronic identification means issued under the notified electronic identification scheme in accordance with the law;
    iii. identification of the beneficial owner and taking appropriate measures for verification of its identity by using document

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