Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) comes into effect on 30 June 2013.

The objectives of the AML/CFT Act are:

• to detect and deter money laundering and financing of terrorism
• to maintain and enhance New Zealand’s international reputation by adopting recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”)
• to contribute to public confidence in the financial system.

Of course we must make sure we comply with the Act and have a clearly documented system in place so if anyone wants to check they can see that we are compliant. We will be subject to a bi-annual external audit.

Essentially we must be able to prove that we know our clients:

• are who they say they are, and
• live where they say they live, and
• have a current New Zealand Bank account, and
• are not performing suspicious transactions.

Be prepared, any financial service provider you want to deal with in the future, such as your bank, is also going to want proof of your ID, physical address and bank account.