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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 Bosnian Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulatory framework is set out in the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing Terrorist Activities of BiH, which was adopted in 2014 at the state level.

National regulator or relevant authority for AML controls

The Financial-Intelligence Department in the State Investigation and Protection Agency is the relevant authority.

Customer Due Diligence

Conduct of a typical KYC identification process

Pursuant to the applicable legislation, person under obligation (liable persons) – i.e. banks, post offices, investment and mutual pension companies and funds, insurance and reinsurance companies, casinos, currency exchange offices, public notaries, lawyers, accountants, auditors, privatisation agencies, real estate agencies, legal and natural persons – performing the following activities: (i) receiving and/or distributing money or property for humanitarian, charitable, religious, educational or social purposes; (ii) transfer of money or value; (iii) factoring; (iv) forfeiting; (v) safekeeping, investing, administering, managing or advising in the management of property of third persons; (vi) issuing, managing and performing operations with debit and credit cards and other means of payment; (vii) financial leasing; (viii) issuing financial guarantees and other warranties and commitments; (ix) lending, crediting, offering and brokering in the negotiation of loans; (x) underwriting, placement and brokering in insurance policies; (xi) organising and executing auctions; (xii) trade in precious metals and stones and products made from these materials; (xiii) trading with work of art, boats, vehicles and aircraft, are obliged to take measures to identify and monitor the client when:

  • Establishing a business relationship with a client;
  • Performing a transaction amounting to or exceeding BAM 30,000 (approx. EUR 15,000), irrespective of whether it concerns one (1) transaction or more connected transactions;
  • The existence of doubts on the credibility and adequacy of previously obtained information about the client or the beneficial owner;
  • Existence of doubts on money laundering or terrorist financing activities related to the transaction or the client, regardless of the amount of the transaction.
The measures of identification and monitoring include: (i) identification and authentication based on clients documents, data or information obtained from a credible and objective source; (ii) determining the actual owner; (iii) obtaining information about the objective and the purpose of a business relationship or transaction, as well as other information prescribed by the relevant legislation; (iv) regular monitoring of business activities of the client by the person under obligation.

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

Under conditions prescribed by the relevant legislation, identification of the client and the beneficial owner of the client, as well as the collection of data on the purpose and the anticipated nature of the business relationship or the transaction, may be entrusted to third parties. Prior entrusting the identification procedure to a third person, the liable person is obliged to check whether a third person meets the conditions set out by the relevant legislation. However, the person under obligation still continues to
bear the responsibility for the identification procedure. The obligor must not accept the performance of certain actions and measures of identification and monitoring of a client from a third party if that person has determined and verified the client's identity without his presence. By entrusting a third person with undertaking certain measures and activities of client identification and monitoring, the liable person is not waived of the responsibility for correct implementation of measures and activities.

Possibility to outsource customer due diligence by contract to other third parties who are not obliged by law to meet AML regulations and rely on these (e.g., WebID, IDnow, PostIdent)

No, the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing Terrorist Activities of BiH specifically states that the third person is obliged to meet AML regulations.

Presence of a license or registration requirement for the third party in case of outsourcing customer due diligence

Pursuant to the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing Terrorist Activities of BiH third persons are: banks, insurance companies, insurance brokerage companies which have a license for performing life insurance business, the leasing companies, microcredit organisations, authorised brokers and auditors. The aforementioned law does not prescribe any specific registration of the aforementioned companies for the purpose of acting as third persons, however it does intend that the Council of Ministers of BiH, upon a proposal by the Ministry of Security of BiH and with previous consultations with the Financial-Intelligence Department in the State Investigation and Protection Agency can approve that companies designated to act as third persons registered in a country on the list of countries applying internationally recognised standards in terms of preventing and detecting money laundering and financing terrorist activities, provided by Council of Ministers of BiH, may act as third person.

Further questions

Entities that could be relied on specifically by law as a third party to comply with AML regulations (regardless of outsourcing)


No credit institutions
No financial institutions
No auditors, external accountants, and tax advisors
No notaries and other independent legal professionals
No other trust or company service providers
No estate agents
No other persons trading high-value goods
No providers of gambling services
Yes banks, insurance companies, insurance brokerage companies which have a license for performing life insurance business, the leasing companies, microcredit organizations, authorized brokers and auditors


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