Yes, I thought Gemini had left out the dual-use goods screening requirements for Indian banks, which I had run into some years ago, so I asked…

For Indian banks, the requirement to check for dual-use goods has shifted from “best practice” to a hard legal mandateas of 2023, largely driven by amendments to the WMD Act and updated RBI Master Directions.

Here is the specific breakdown of the requirements for Indian financial institutions.

1. The Core Legal Mandate: The WMD Act (Amendment)

The most critical regulation is the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Act, 2022.

• The “Finance” Clause: Section 12A was inserted to explicitly prohibit the financing of any activity related to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.
• The Implication: Before this amendment, the law mostly targeted exporters/manufacturers. Now, if a bank provides a Letter of Credit (LC) or processes a payment for a dual-use item that is being exported illegally, the bank itself can be held liable for “financing” a prohibited activity.

2. The Regulatory Instruction: RBI Master Direction

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) operationalized the WMD Act through the Master Direction on KYC (Updated 2023) to align with FATF Recommendation 7 (Proliferation Financing).

• Section 12A & 54: The RBI explicitly instructs banks to ensure they do not deal with funds or assets of individuals/entities designated under the WMD Act or UNSC resolutions (Iran/North Korea).
• Risk Assessment: Banks are now required to conduct a “Proliferation Financing Risk Assessment.” This means they must identify which of their customers (e.g., chemical manufacturers, aerospace startups) deal in dual-use goods and apply higher scrutiny to them.

3. The Control List: SCOMET

Indian banks do not screen against “Wassenaar” or “US Commerce” lists directly. They screen (or should screen) against the SCOMET List (Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment, and Technologies).

• What it is: This is India’s national dual-use list, maintained by the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade). It consolidates all the major regimes (Wassenaar, MTCR, NSG) into one document.
• The Check: If a bank customer is exporting an item on the SCOMET list, they must present a valid SCOMET Export Authorization (license) to the bank.
• Bank Obligation: In Trade Finance, the bank is expected to verify that the goods declared in the Letter of Credit/Invoice do not require a SCOMET license, or if they do, that the license is present and valid.

4. How Indian Banks Actually Implement This

In practice, Indian banks (especially larger ones like HDFC, ICICI, SBI) handle this in two layers:

1. Sanctions Layer (Automated):
   • They screen names/entities against the UNSC Consolidated List and the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) designated list. This is automated and mandatory for every transaction.
2. Trade Finance Layer (Manual/Semi-Automated):
   • When processing an export bill or LC, the trade desk checks the HS Code.
   • If the HS code matches a “high risk” SCOMET category (e.g., nuclear materials, high-end electronics), they ask the exporter for a “Non-SCOMET declaration” or the actual license.
   • Note: The DGFT’s online system for SCOMET licenses actually requires exporters to input their Bank Details(Bank Name, Branch, IFSC), which creates a digital trail linking the bank to the specific licensed transaction.

Summary Table for Policy Drafting

Component	Requirement Source	What Banks Must Do
The Law	WMD Act Amendment 2022	Ensure no funds are provided to prohibited WMD activities.
The Regulator	RBI Master Direction (KYC)	Conduct PF (Proliferation Financing) Risk Assessments; screen UNSC lists.
The List	SCOMET List (Appendix 3 of ITC HS)	Verify SCOMET authorization for controlled exports.
The Trigger	Trade Finance / Forex	Flag transactions involving HS codes that overlap with SCOMET items.

so, I asked Gemini why India had been left out of the first response – and, as usual Gemini was its usual solicitous self:

That was an oversight on my part, and you are right to call it out. India absolutely should have been in that conversation, especially given the aggressive legal updates in 2022 and 2023.

I likely excluded it from the initial “top tier” list for two nuanced reasons regarding how compliance is viewed globally versus locally:

1. Recency of the “Financial” Mandate

The countries I listed (US, HK, Singapore) have had explicit banking guidance on dual-use goods for quite some time.

• India’s Shift: Until the WMD Act Amendment in 2022, the burden in India was almost entirely on the exporter(via the DGFT and Customs). Banks were primarily checking boxes to ensure paperwork (like the IEC code) was in order.
• The Change: The 2022 Amendment (Section 12A) was the game-changer that explicitly criminalized the financingof these goods.¹ This moved India from “administrative checks” to “active liability” very recently, so it sometimes gets missed in older global compliance playbooks.

2. “Check the License” vs. “Screen the Goods”

This is a subtle but critical distinction in how the requirement works:

• The “Hong Kong/US” Model (Detective Approach):These regulators expect banks to act like detectives. Even if the exporter says “this is a harmless pipe,” the bank is expected to look at the description, screen it against a list (like the Commerce Control List), and say, “Wait, this pipe specifications match a nuclear centrifuge part.”
• The “India” Model (Gatekeeper Approach):Historically, the RBI and DGFT framework treated banks more as gatekeepers of documentation. The requirement was often: “Did the customer give you a valid SCOMET license? If yes, process it. If no, get a declaration.”While this is changing, many Indian banks still operate on the premise that if the customer declares it as Non-SCOMET, the bank is safe. In contrast, US/EU regulators increasingly tell banks they cannot just trust the customer’s declaration and must independently verify the goods.

Summary: Where India Fits Now

If I were to redraw that first list for 2025/2026, India belongs firmly in the “Strict” category, but with a different flavor:

• US/EU: Strict because of global reach and independent screening expectations.
• India: Strict because of criminal liability (under the WMD Act) and the tight integration with Forex laws (FEMA).