Knowing the customer

Building trust

Banking is based on mutual trust, which is created with personalised service that takes the customer’s needs into consideration. When we know your needs, we can offer the advice and solutions that best match your situation in life.

Statutory obligations

It is our statutory obligation to identify and know our customers. We must verify your identity using reliable identification documents and check what banking services you need and use.

In addition to your financial position, we must ensure the origin of the funds arriving on your accounts and how you plan to use your account. We must determine if you are a politically exposed person. We will also ask what country you are liable for taxation in because the international agreements that Finland is a part of require so  (Act on Taxation Procedures 18.12.1995/1558).

Prevention of financial crime

With these statutory measures, we strive to prevent financial crime, money laundering and the funding of terrorism. We have a statutory obligation to assist in the prevention, exposure and investigation of criminal activity and having possible crimes investigated. By knowing our customers properly we can be the most reliable financial partner for you.

Confidentiality of your data

We will ask certain questions when you become our customer, and also regularly during our relationship. All information you provide is handled confidentially and in accordance with legislation pertaining to collecting and storing personal data. The information collected from you in order to fulfil our statutory obligation regarding due diligence is not used for any other purpose than this. Your information is not, for example, used for marketing.

Verifying your identity

The identity of the customer is verified with a proof of identity issued by an authority, such as a passport or personal identity card. The document must be valid. In certain cases, the identity can be verified electronically using a strong authentication method, Finnish online bank credentials in practice.

According to the Act on Detecting and Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, the bank must keep a copy of or sufficient information about the document used for identification.

If you are acting on behalf or in the interest of another person, the bank also needs information about the identity of this other person.

Approved proofs of identity at branch offices

Documents issued by a Finnish authority

• Personal identity card
• National passport (not an alien’s passport)

Travel documents issued by a foreign authority

• National passport (not an alien’s passport)
• Personal identity card issued by an authority within the EU or Schengen area (with a chip, contains a hologram or optical security measures)

Danske Bank's authentication principles

Knowing the customer

The bank must have sufficient information about its customers’ financial activity, the extent of the activity and grounds for using the services of the bank. The information must also be kept up-to-date during the customer relationship and must be stored appropriately.

The bank is obliged to inquire about the financial status, tax liability and political exposure of its customers. If necessary, the customer is requested to provide additional information about the origin and purpose of the funds arriving on the account and documents that can be used to substantiate the information.

By requesting the information and a more detailed account, the bank can understand the grounds for the regular banking transactions of its customers and detect and investigate unusual or deviating activity. Thus, the bank can provide safe banking for its customers.

When granting credit, the bank as a creditor must assess whether the consumer can fulfil the obligations of the credit agreement. When providing investment services, the bank must assess the appropriateness or suitability of the product for the customer.

International agreements regarding the exchange of information for taxation purposes

International agreements regarding the automatic exchange of information for taxation purposes affect the information that the bank must request from its customers. In accordance with its international commitments, Finland will automatically provide countries participating in the exchange of information for taxation purposes and other regulation with taxation-related information, and will also receive it from other countries.

Finland has a so-called FATCA agreement with the United States for the automatic exchange of information, in addition to which Finland is bound by the common reporting standard CRS of the OECD countries and by the European Union directive amendment DAC2. The purpose of the exchange of information is to improve the efficiency of tax supervision and make it more difficult to avoid taxes.

In accordance with the acts and international treaties approved by the parliament, banks and other financial institutions must identify the tax residence of their customers and provide the Finnish tax authority with information about the assets and income of its customers. A customer, in turn, must provide the bank with the necessary additional information in order to determine their tax residence. The tax administration will send this information to other countries with which it has an agreement or other obligation and, correspondingly, will receive information affecting taxation from other countries regarding the foreign assets and income of persons residing in Finland.

We ask that you complete the declaration about your tax liability and provide us with your foreign tax identification number, if any, when you become our customer or your country of residence or taxation changes. If necessary, we will provide help with filling in the declaration. Do note, however, that Danske Bank cannot provide tax advice. If, for example, you have questions about how to determine your tax residence, please contact a tax specialist.

Declaration of tax liability

If necessary, fill in a declaration of your tax liability. Remember to sign the document after printing it. You can send the completed, signed document by scanning it as an attachment to an eBanking message or personally deliver it to a branch office.

• Declaration of tax liability (pdf)
• Selvitys henkilöasiakkaan verovelvollisuudesta (pdf)
• Intyg av privatkundens skattskyldighet (pdf)

Additional information

To learn more about due diligence and international exchange of information, visit the Financial Supervisory Authority and Tax Administration websites:

• Financial Supervisory Authority – frequently asked questions
• Tax Administration – international tax treaties (In Finnish)