Appointment of Nodal Officer by dealers in Precious Metals & Precious Stones becomes mandatory

Directorate General of Audit Indirect Taxes and Customs issued Anti-Money Laundering (‘AML’) Standards and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (‘CFT’) guidelines for Dealers in Precious Metals and Precious Stones on 25.01.2023, which were updated vide guidelines dated 17.02.2023 & 04.05.2023.

As per the said guidelines, Every dealer having gross annual turnover more than Rs. 500 Crore in previous financial year (e.g. FY 2022-23) must appoint a ‘Nodal Officer’ for the purpose of interaction and information sharing with Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)-India.

For the dealers having gross annual turnover less than Rs. 500 Crore in previous financial year (e.g. FY 2022-23), can become the member of Industry Council and Association and then Industry Council/ Association will nominate “Nodal Officer” who will represent all the members of the Council/ Association. Nodal Officer would serve as a link between the dealers, Industry Council and Association and FIU-India for co-ordination and dissemination of information.

The role of Nodal officers is to educate and sharing of information to the dealers/ members of association on AML risks & the guidance. 

The Nodal officer of the Dealers/Associations would be required to mandatorily enroll on the “FINGate 2.0 platform” to receive the link of “FINGate” mobile application and getting access to all messages, notifications, alerts, etc. pushed by FIU-India on mobile application. 

Further, in any instance of unusual cash transactions, counterfeit currency notes, NPO transactions or any suspicious transactions, an individual dealer is required to be registered as ‘Reporting Entity’ with FIU-India and appoint ‘Principal Officer and Designated Director’ to submit report as per the prescribed format to FUI-India.

Action Required:

Dealers having aggregate turnover more than INR 500Cr. during last year should appoint a Senior Person having background and experience in the field of finance and laws as Nodal Officer. Dealers having aggregate turnover below INR 500Cr. should become a member of a renowned Industry council viz. Gems & Jewellery Council of India, Indian Bullion & Jewellers Association and likewise so as to get all the updates regarding the AML risk and guidance.

Limitation: The purpose of this article is for knowledge sharing purpose. Views expressed in this note are personal views of the author. The same should not be construed as professional advise.