The Act on Detecting and Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (444/2017) requires that we as a company know if you now have, or have during the past 12 months had an important public function in a State or an international organization such as the EU or NATO, i.e. if you are a politically exposed person. We must also ask you if you are a family member or known associate to such a person. The information may be used for preventing, exposing and detecting money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as to aid in referring criminal matters related to money laundering and terrorist financing to investigation. Listed here you will find descriptions of which positions give rise to politically exposed person status and also which relations are considered to be family members or known associates.
“Politically exposed person” is a natural person who a) is or in the last 12 months has been entrusted with a prominent public function in a state; b) has or in the last 12 months has had a function in the management of an international organisation.
A prominent public function in a state includes following: a) heads of State, heads of government, ministers and deputy or assistant ministers; b) members of parliament, c) members of the governing bodies of political parties; d) members of supreme courts, of constitutional courts or of other high-level judicial bodies, the decisions of which are not subject to further appeal, except in exceptional
circumstances; e) members of audit authorities or of the boards of central banks; f) ambassadors, chargés d’affaires and high-ranking officers in the armed forces; g) members of the administrative, management or supervisory bodies of State-owned enterprises.
“Family members” of a politically exposed person include: a) Spouse, or a partner who according to the national law is considered equivalent to a spouse; b) Children and their spouses or partners referred to above; c) Parents.
“Known associate” of a politically exposed person means: a) All natural persons who are known to have joint beneficial ownership of legal entities or legal arrangements, or any other close business relations, with a politically exposed person or a member of their family;
b) All natural persons who have sole beneficial ownership of a legal entity or legal arrangement which is known to have been set up for the de facto benefit of a politically exposed person or a member of their family.
