In order to ensure that the information provided by a new customer is accurate and complete
We need to know which information, documents and evidence different types of new customers should provide

Banks need to obtain all information necessary to establish to their full satisfaction the identity of each new customer and the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship. The extent and nature of the information depends on the type of applicant (personal, corporate, etc.) and the expected size of the account. National supervisors are encouraged to provide guidance to assist banks in designing their own identification procedures. The Working Group intends to develop essential elements of customer identification requirements.

Customer identification is an essential element of KYC standards. For the purposes of this paper, a customer includes:

• the person or entity that maintains an account with the bank or those on whose behalf an account is maintained (i.e. beneficial owners);
• the beneficiaries of transactions conducted by professional intermediaries; and
• any person or entity connected with a financial transaction who can pose a significant reputational or other risk to the bank.

Banks should establish a systematic procedure for identifying new customers and should not establish a banking relationship until the identity of a new customer is satisfactorily verified.

Banks should “document and enforce policies for identification of customers and those acting on their behalf”.6 The best documents for verifying the identity of customers are those most difficult to obtain illicitly and to counterfeit. Special attention should be exercised in the case of non-resident customers and in no case should a bank short-circuit identity procedures just because the new customer is unable to present himself for interview. The bank should always ask itself why the customer has chosen to open an account in a foreign jurisdiction