Account opening

There are many reasons why automatic verification checks may not be completed successfully, such as:

• Your client may have recently moved
• Your client may not be registered on the Electoral roll
• Your client may have recently changed their name
• Your client may not have sufficient data available to support our minimum scoring criteria
• Household services may not be registered in your client’s name.

A client cannot invest or withdraw money unless we have verified their identity. If we cannot confirm their identity electronically, you have the option of submitting an Identity Verification Certificate (IVC) online. You can also send us identification documents instead of an IVC or both.

Yes. However, this may not be necessary as we give you the option of asking for an online identity check for your client when you first set them up on our system.

If you don’t wish to submit an IVC for your client, you will have to send us identity verification documents for them, in which case you need to make the payment by cheque using a cheque payment slip printed from ‘Quote and Transact’. The slip includes a list of the identity verification documents you can send. If only a regular savings plan is being set up on the account, ‘Quote and Transact’ will create a different payment slip for you to return with your client's documents.

You will find a full list of the documents that can be used for identity verification in our anti-money laundering guide. This guide also has information on what you should do if you want to send photocopies rather than original documents. The anti-money laundering requirements are different if your client lives overseas.

There are other documents we can accept as proof of your client's identity. These are shown on page 2 of our anti-money laundering guide. You will also have to sign a declaration that your client does not have a current passport or photocard driving licence and you will still need to send a separate document as proof of your client's address.

If your client has a current photocard driving licence (the plastic card, not the accompanying paper section) you can send us a photocopy of this to confirm your client's name and address. Full information of the other documents we can accept are listed on the Confirmation of Identity Form, which must accompany any documents you send to us.

In line with regulatory guidance issued by the FCA, Fidelity is required to conduct a quality review of IVCs supplied by advisory firms. This means in order for Fidelity to place reliance on IVCs, we may request at any time copies of the original documents used to verify your client at the time the IVC was provided to Fidelity. If these documents are not in line with Fidelity’s verification standards, restrictions may be applied to your client’s account until verification has been completed.

By supplying us with an IVC, you are also confirming that you will hold the verification documents for five years after the end of the client relationship.

When investing for an unverified client, you will see an online message telling you their identity needs to be checked. You can also go to the 'Create client' screen. It will be clear if the client is unverified and you will have the opportunity to carry out an online identity check.

If you can’t meet the verification standards mentioned above, you will be unable to complete an IVC – below are two scenarios where we may accept alternative verification.

For us to rely on verification carried out by another firm, this must be based on at least the same standard of customer verification detailed above. We will not accept verification which has been undertaken through electronic checks or from a source of funds concession.

Where verification has been completed via a home visit, under the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group Guidance (JMLSG), this can be accepted for face-to-face business. Therefore, a record of this visit may constitute evidence that the individual lives at this address and can result in a validated proof of address. Subsequently, we will require the following details and confirmation photographic evidence has been obtained:

• Full address
• Full client name
• Date of visit
• Confirmation that the individual met during this visit is one and the same person as on the photographic documentation
• Details of the individual who met the client at their address.

If we do not have a client's identity verified within 30 days of changing their status to 'unverified', you will not accrue any further fees. In this case, any fees you have already accrued will be paid on the 25th of the following month. If you submit an IVC or identity verification documents after this time, you will be able to reset your fees.