Banks put their trust in Engineers

Professional engineers will be delighted to hear that the UK financial services industry no longer appears to regard them as untrustworthy. Until recently they were not among those that the banking community would accept as certifiers of documentary evidence of customer identity - as might be required say to open a bank account or take out a loan. It is thanks to the efforts of the Engineering Council UK (ECUK) that they now are.

Last year, ECUK was one of various organisations that were invited to comment on proposed new guidance published by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG). Part of the guidance is concerned with mitigating the risk of impersonation when business is not carried out face-to-face. Within this section reference is made to copy documents, submitted as proof of identity, being certified by an 'appropriate person'. However, in the circulated draft there was no explanation as to who should be deemed 'appropriate'. ECUK pressed for a definition of this term - and, most importantly, one that would include engineers.

Clarification was duly incorporated in the final version of the JMLSG guidance document, which gained Treasury approval earlier this year. While this does not actually give a definitive list of appropriate persons it does reference the UK Passport Service list of acceptable counter-signatories for passport applications, which has long included engineers with professional qualifications.

The financial services sector was allowed a six-month transitional period in which to bring in the range of changes introduced by the guidance, which means that all firms should be implementing them by the end of August 06. This will hopefully bring to an end the banking world's puzzling refusal to recognise the probity and status of the registered engineer.

The JMLSG guidance notes can be found at:

http://www.jmlsg.org.uk

The Passport Office list is at:

www.ukpa.gov.uk/passport_countersign.asp.