Meaning of “politically exposed person”

(1) “Politically exposed person” means– (a) a foreign politically exposed person; (b) a domestic politically exposed person; or (c) a person who is, or has been, entrusted with a prominent function by an international organisation. 24[CAP. 104 Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) (2) “Foreign politically exposed person” means a person who is, or has been, entrusted with a prominent public function by a country other than Belize. (3) “Domestic politically exposed person” means a person who is, or has been, entrusted with a prominent public function by Belize. (4) Without limiting sub-sections (2) or (3), the following have or exercise prominent public functions in relation to a country– (a) heads of state, heads of government and senior politicians; (b) senior government or judicial officials; (c) high-ranking officers in the armed forces; (d) members of courts of auditors or of the boards of central banks; (e) ambassadors and chargés d’affaires; (f) senior executives of state-owned corporations; and (g) important political party officials. (5) “International organisation” means an entity– (a) established by formal political agreement between its member countries that has the status of an international treaty; (b) whose existence is recognised by law in its member countries; and (c) not treated as a resident institutional unit of the country in which it is located. (6) For the purposes of sub-section (1)(c), the following have or exercise prominent functions in relation to an international organisation– (a) the directors and deputy directors of the international organisation; (b) the members of the board or governing body of the international organisation; and (c) other members of the senior management of the international organisation. (7) The following are immediate family members of a (a) a spouse; (b) a partner; (c) children and their spouses or partners; (d) parents; (e) grandparents and grandchildren; and (f) siblings. (8) For the purposes of sub-section (7)(b) and (c), “partner” means– (a) a person who lives in a domestic relationship which is similar to the relationship between husband and wife; or 26[CAP. 104 Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) (b) a person in a relationship with another person who is considered by the law of the jurisdiction which applies to the relationship as equivalent to a spouse. (9) The following are close associates of a politically (a) any person known to maintain a close business relationship with that person or to be in a position to conduct substantial financial transactions on behalf of the person; (b) any person who is known to have joint beneficial ownership of a legal entity or legal arrangement, or any other close business relations, with that person; and (c) any person who has sole beneficial ownership of a legal entity or legal arrangement which is known to have been set up for the benefit of that person. (10) For the purposes of deciding whether a person is a close associate of a politically exposed person, a service provider need only have regard to information which is in that person’s possession or is publicly known.