President of the Jewellers Association of T&T Anai Patel is appealing for more understanding from members of the public who are being asked for more personal information when they purchase jewelry. He explained that jewellers need the information to be compliant under the Financial Institutions Act.The office of the Attorney General Anand Ramlogan issuing a statement recently listing lawyers, jewellers, motor vehicle dealers, real estate agents and casinos as groups now under tighter registration.
Patel said: "We would like to ask the public to understand that our members requests for more information when making purchases are not to breach the privacy of the buyer but simply to ensure that we as jewellers comply with the laws of T&T."The laws governing jewellers are now very similar to those for banks and other financial institutions. These laws serve to ensure that criminals are denied an avenue for laundering their ill-gotten gains."
"I am sure that many persons have noticed that in recent times, when purchasing jewellery, records of the buyers full name and address, as well as ID for larger purchases are being kept. In addition, we held a training seminar with the FIU in order to educate our members and their staff on some of the finer details of compliance," he said.