Ministry of Finance has vide notification Dt. 03.05.2023 in official gazette added practicing Chartered Accountant (CA), Cost and Works Accountants (CMA) and Company Secretary (CS) to the list of entities under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) if financial transaction are executed on behalf of the client.
Various activities for which they are required to maintain records are as under:
(i) buying and selling of any immovable property;
(ii) managing of client money, securities or other assets;
(iii) management of bank, savings or securities accounts;
(iv) organisation of contributions for the creation, operation or management of companies;
(v) creation, operation or management of companies, limited liability partnerships or trusts, and buying and selling of business entities,
Relevant notification is reproduced as under:
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (vi) of clause (sa) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (15 of 2003), the Central Government hereby notifies that the financial transactions carried out by a relevant person on behalf of his client, in the course of his or her profession, in relation to the following activities-
(i) buying and selling of any immovable property;
(ii) managing of client money, securities or other assets;
(iii) management of bank, savings or securities accounts;
(iv) organisation of contributions for the creation, operation or management of companies;
(v) creation, operation or management of companies, limited liability partnerships or trusts, and buying and selling of business entities,
shall be an activity for the purposes of said sub-section.
Explanation 1.- For the purposes of this notification ‘relevant person’ includes –
(i) an individual who obtained a certificate of practice under section 6 of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949) and practicing individually or through a firm, in whatever manner it has been constituted;
(ii) an individual who obtained a certificate of practice under section 6 of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (56 of 1980) and practicing individually or through a firm, in whatever manner it has been constituted;
(iii) an individual who has obtained a certificate of practice under section 6 of the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 (23 of 1959) and practicing individually or through a firm, in whatever manner it has been constituted.
Explanation 2.- For the purposes of this notification ‘firm’ shall have the same meaning assigned to it in sub-clause (i) of clause (23) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961).
Chartered Accountant who are appointed as auditor won’t be normally liable to collect such information as they cannot execute any such transaction on behalf of it’s clients but it will be interesting to see what will be future implications according to this.
To read the notification CLICK ME.
Connect with us on: LinkedIn, Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for regular Updates.
Comments 1