We are sorry to say that the Government has passed new laws imposing, from the 10th January 2020, a rather unwelcome burden on our industry. They oblige us to conform to the AML regulations which have recently come into force. Much as we dislike these - they take up a great deal of time and trouble - we are obliged to comply with them and will suffer penalties if we do not do so. In our view the threshold at which these burdensome obligations start is far, far too low and a great deal of useless administration and effort could have been saved by simply amending this accordingly.
When we make a sale to a Private Individual or company for a single work or a series of works in a given year of €10k or more we are obliged to obtain certain information from the client and hold this on file. Our professional body, LAPADA, has given us guidelines on the following link:
Private Individuals
The information we are now required to ask for is as follows:
Full Name
Date of Birth or Permanent Residential address
Nationality
In practice this means that we must ask from you a copy of a Passport, Driving License or National ID Card. Should it happen that you are making this purchase on behalf of another person we would need, in addition to the above, the name, address or date of birth of that person and proof that you are authorised to act fro them, such as a Power of Attorney or letter of appointment. The copy of a utility bill serves as proof of address.
For Companies:
We need formal documents showing the companies incorporation, its registered office, business address and its officers, members and ultimate beneficial owners. We also need a passport or other government issued photo ID for each authorised user. We really don’t want to trouble you with all this, but unfortunately, we are obliged to do so by law. We would be very grateful if you can, therefore, provide us with this information.