On August 2021, the FMA issued its AML/CFT Monitoring Insight Report for 2018 to 2021. The Director of Supervision noted that the AML/CFT regime has now matured to such an extent that the FMA has less tolerance for AML non-compliance. In other words, businesses are expected to have a strong handle on meeting their AML/CFT obligations.
We can expect this view to be true for the other Supervisors: DIA and RBNZ.
“Money laundering” – it calls to mind laundromats and giant bags of cash, or maybe the Netflix series Ozark. For most people it’s a vague concept that’s ‘bad’, with no understanding of what it is and how it actually happens. But it’s a big problem: in New Zealand alone, around $1 billion is laundered every year, while globally the figure is estimated to be $4 trillion.
Verifying your customer’s identity is a process. Sometimes it’s simple. Often, it’s not. But we can all agree we want it to be quick.
The Financial Markets Authority and Department of Internal Affairs recently released updated guidance on outsourcing Customer Due Diligence that reiterates a very important message for anyone using third parties to manage it.