Nationwide anti-money laundering seminars help businesses prepare for new law

Media Release
16 August 2011

Financial service businesses will be learning about the need to tighten up customer identification processes and look out for suspicious financial transactions in a series of seminars around the country that started in Wellington on Monday.

The Financial Markets Authority, Department of Internal Affairs, and the Police Financial Intelligence Unit are running the seminars to help business start preparing for a new Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism law coming into effect on June 30, 2013.

The law is New Zealand's response to international efforts to combat financial crime and terrorist funding activities.

FMA CEO Sean Hughes said the seminars would introduce businesses and organisations covered by the new law to their new obligations, and to the risk assessment and compliance programmes they should now be developing.

"A key message from Australia, where a similar regime is already in place, is that it takes time to develop the policies, training and personnel required to meet the requirements. Organisations need to get on with this right away," said Mr Hughes.

FMA is responsible for the regulatory supervision of securities markets and is one of three supervisors of the new regime alongside the Reserve Bank (banks, life insurers and non-bank deposit takers) and the Department of Internal Affairs (casinos, non-deposit-taking lenders, money changers, trust and company service providers and reporting entities not covered by the other supervisors).

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