The government has started work on expanding anti-money laundering obligations to professionals including lawyers and accountants as the number of suspicious transactions reported to law enforcement agencies more than triples since legislation came into effect.
Ministry of Justice officials have started early work on considering a second tranche of legislative reform that would extend anti-money laundering requirements to professions and businesses dealing in high-value goods, such as lawyers, accountants, conveyancing practitioners and real estate agents, Justice Minister Amy Adams said at the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering annual meeting in Auckland.
“These are currently covered under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, but a next stage would see them subject to the more robust AML obligations under the AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism) Act,” she said.