The Government has delivered regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act.
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill introduced was the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill that made amendments to improve the AML/CFT Act.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill contained 26 amendments, including:
- Relaxing mandatory enhanced Customer Due Diligence (CDD) requirements for low-risk customers that are trusts or other vehicles for holding personal assets
- Changing the definition of a trust and company service provider to provide clarification, removing the potential for certain businesses to be captured twice under the current definition
- Enabling a more risk-based approach when identifying whether a customer is a foreign politically exposed person and clarifying that the extent of proactive steps required depends on risk
- Changes that clarify obligations for businesses under the Act.
These changes will ensure obligations better align with money laundering and terrorism financing risk, improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and consistency of the AML regime, and support the better functioning of AML/CFT agencies.
In addition, McKee said she was progressing with work to provide ministerial exemptions from obligations under the Act and has recently approved six such exemptions.
Exemptions reduce compliance costs by relieving businesses with sufficiently low money laundering risks from providing unnecessary reporting information.
McKee also recently approved the renewal of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Class Exemptions Notice, which will take effect on the 31st of December, 2024.
The exemptions will help reduce the compliance burden and minimise duplication for AML/CFT reporting entities operating with a chain of intermediaries.
“I know how important AML exemptions are to New Zealand businesses, so I am prioritising processing these exemptions in a timely way,” said McKee.
“These immediate changes are part of a wider work programme to improve the AML/CFT regime and provide regulatory relief, support tackling organised crime, and improve our compliance with international standards.”
Further changes, including changes to the supervisor model and levy and a broader regulatory package, are progressing by the Ministry of Justice on a longer-term timeline.]
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