Every New Zealand business has obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. Do you understand yours?

Specialist advice helps ensure compliance

Designed to stop terrorists and criminals laundering their money, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 requires businesses to comply with a set of requirements and standards. Recently, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has stepped up action for non-compliance and is showing less tolerance for those companies that do not meet their obligations. Other regulators include the Reserve Bank and the Department of Internal Affairs.

Who is required to comply?

Reporting entities and most financial service providers and businesses that offer credit contracts, lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, virtual assets service providers, high value dealers, casinos and real estate agents are just some of the business categories with obligations under the Act. The FMA has warned it will execute more in-depth assessments of how firms add new customers and monitor their accounts and transactions. Get specialist legal advice. Talk to McVeagh Fleming.

Recent Insights

September 2018

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) - It is Serious - Get Specialist Legal Advice!

The AML/CFT Act was extended to lawyers and conveyancers on 1 July 2018. It will be extended to accountants on 1 October 2018 and will be further extended to Real Estate Agents on 1 January 2019. We also consider many financial service providers (including in some cases of businesses offering credit contracts) may be unaware that they are required to comply with the AML/CFT Act or may not be meeting the standards required.
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