‘Untrustworthy’ connotation removed

Until recently, professional engineers were not among those that the banking community would accept as certifiers of documentary evidence of customer identity – as might be required, say, to open a bank account or take out a loan. It is thanks to the efforts of the ECUK that the position has now changed.

Last year, the ECUK was one of various organisations that were invited to comment on proposed new guidance published by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG). Part of the guidance is concerned with mitigating the risk of impersonation when business is not carried out faceto- face. Within this section reference is made to copy documents, submitted as proof of identity, being certified by an “appropriate person”. However, in the circulated draft there was no explanation as to who should be deemed “appropriate”. ECUK pressed for a definition of this term – and, most importantly, one that would include engineers.

Clarification was duly incorporated in the final version of the JMLSG guidance document.