Iain Dunstan
IncentiaPay CEO and acting Bartercard CEO for Australia and New Zealand
www.bartercard.co.nz
CMS, SLA, NPS, you hear acronyms being regularly used in business but what do they actually mean?
Well, here are two which you need to know about – AML and CFT. Your obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Act 2009 are changing and you need to know the impact.
Changes are coming into effect in July 2018, so it’s imperative businesses get ahead of the game, as it’s estimated, it will more than quadruple the number of businesses in New Zealand required to contend with AML requirements.
When the Act was introduced in 2013, it imposed a series of obligations on certain industries including banks, fund managers, financial advisers, debt collectors, safe deposit box vaults and numerous other entities.
It was designed to ensure such businesses and financial instructions were able to detect and report potentially criminal origins or purposes of money.
In just a couple of months, these legislative requirements are being extended to include the legal, real estate, sports betting, and high value goods industries (jewelry, precious metals, precious stones, watches, motor vehicles, boats, art, or antiques where cash payments of $15,000 or more are taken).
With a shift now from just a warning to prosecution, businesses need to ensure their AML processes and structures are in place ahead of the legislation coming into force for their industry in July.
In summary, each reporting entity will need to undertake a risk assessment of the potential for the business to be exposed to money laundering and financing of terrorism activities.
An effective AML/CFT programme will need to be written, highlighting procedures to detect, deter, manage, and mitigate the possibility of money laundering taking place.
A compliance officer will need to be appointed to administer and maintain your AML/CFT programme.
This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of the AML/ CFT system, and something that shouldn’t be underestimated since the compliance officer will become personally liable for any breaches of the Act, the penalties for which can be up to $200,000 per breach.
Customer due diligence processes will need to be in place to include customer identification and identity verification, along with reporting of any suspicious transactions or activity.
An annual report will also need to be filed with your supervisor — the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the Financial Markets Authority or the Department of Internal Affairs — highlighting the business’ activities and measures that are in place.
Don’t leave it until the last minute — a free eBook is available to download which covers everything you need to know: https:// content.bartercard.co.nz/anti-money-laundering-act-ebook.
