Understanding the nature of the customer's business involves first i) identifying that the customer is a participant in a higher-risk sector; and ii) collecting all the information necessary to assess the risk factors for that specific customer type, as described in section 3.1 above. Customers may not identify themselves explicitly as DPMS or real estate sector participants. In some cases, the nature of the customer's business will be clear based on the customer's own statements; in others, the LFI may need to ask additional questions to ascertain whether or not the customer carries out any of the qualifying activities. For example, an importer/exporter may qualify as a DPMS if it trades in precious metals and stones among other products, or a department store may qualify if it sells fine jewelry.

Following the determination of the customer's sector, the LFI should collect the information necessary to understand the products and services the customer offers, where it operates, and who its customers are. The exact information collected will depend on both the nature of initial findings and on the risk level of the entity. For example: