A Trust or Company Service Providers (TCSP) is any person whose business provides any of the following services:

  • forming companies or other bodies corporate.
  • acting as a Director or Secretary of a company under an arrangement with a person other than the company.
  • arranging for another person to act as a Director or Secretary of a company.
  • acting, or arranging for a person to act as a partner of a partnership.
  • providing a registered office, business address, correspondence or administrative address or other related services for a body corporate or partnership.
  • acting, or arranging for another person to act, as a trustee of a trust.
  • acting, or arranging for another person to act, as a nominee shareholder for a person other than a company whose securities are listed on a regulated market.

Does all TCSP activity fall under the remit of the AMLCU?  NO!
With certain exceptions as set out below, a TCSP does not include any of the following:

  • a member of a designated accountancy body
  • a barrister or solicitor
  • a credit or financial institution.

Exceptions

Member of a designated accountancy body
Where the Company has directors/Where the company has directors/beneficial owners that are members of designated accountancy body – this may or may not fall under the remit of the AMLCU for authorisation and monitoring purposes. A memorandum of understanding has been agreed between the AMLCU of the Department of Justice and 6 named Accountancy Bodies (as set out in the MOU). This memorandum of understanding sets out clearly the different scenarios that may occur and whether it falls to the AMLCU to arrange authorisation or the relevant accountancy body to regulate.

Barrister or Solicitor
Where a barrister or solicitor incorporates a company to carry out TCSP activity then for anti-money laundering purposes, the company is authorised and monitored by the AMLCU. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been agreed between the AMLCU of the Department of Justice and the Law Society to reflect this position.

Credit or financial institution
From 3rd March 2014 the Central Bank of Ireland became responsible for granting TCSP authorisation to TCSPs that are subsidiaries of credit or financial institutions.

What you need to do:
To carry out activities of a TCSP you must be authorised by the Minister for Justice when you are not monitored by another supervisory body. An authorisation to operate as a TCSP is valid for a period of 3 years from the date on which it was granted. To obtain authorisation or renew an existing authorisation you must complete and submit:

  • A completed application form.
  • A ‘fit and proper’ form for all principal officers of the company i.e. beneficial owners, directors, company secretary, Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Completed forms must be accompanied by valid photographic identification in the form of a passport or driving licence and proof of address in the form of a utility bill / bank statement / government document.
  • A completed Garda Vetting form for principal officers resident in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland.
  • A Police Certificate for principal officers resident abroad.
  • Payment in the amount of €130.
  • Anti-Money Laundering Policies and Procedures.

All applications must be accompanied by:

  • Memorandum and Articles of Association/Constitution.
  • Registration of trading name.

If the application is a renewal of authorisation (Memorandum and Articles of Association are only required if they changed since the previous application.

It is important to note that the failure of a ‘designated person’ to comply with the obligations contained in the Act is an offence and a person if convicted is liable to a fine or imprisonment or both.

Please Note:

  • If there are any changes to your organisation relating to your authorisation (e.g. change of address, change of director, change of beneficial owner, you must notify the Minister for Justice of the changes.
  • In respect of an initial authorisation or a renewed authorisation the Minister for Justice may:
    • revoke or refuse an authorisation.
    • impose conditions on an authorisation.
    • amend an authorisation.
  • A State competent authority may also serve a direction on the holder of an authorisation.
  • An application for renewal of an authorisation must be received by the Minister for Justice no less than 10 weeks before the renewal date.

The holder of an authorisation may appeal to an Appeal Tribunal against the imposition of any conditions on an authorisation or a decision to refuse or revoke an authorisation.

Should you have any knowledge, suspicion or reasonable grounds for suspicion, on the basis of information obtained through business activities, that another person is engaged in money laundering or terrorist financing you are required to report your knowledge or suspicions to An Garda Síochána and to the Revenue Commissioners using a ‘Suspicious Transaction Report’ (STR) form.

Where you do submit a STR form you should note that it is an offence to make any disclosure that is likely to prejudice an investigation’ to anyone, other than An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners’.

  • Details of revocations of authorisations or directions in respect of authorisations will be published in Iris Oifigiúil.
  • A list of persons holding authorisations will be published in Iris Oifigiúil at least once annually.
  • A copy of the Trust & Company Service Providers Risk Assessment can be found here.