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Chapman Tripp welcomes the decision, announced yesterday, to replace the existing three anti-money laundering supervisors with a single agency, the Department of Internal Affairs.
Our submission in 2016 on Phase Two of the regime was that a unitary, appropriately resourced and dedicated agency should:
- create significant compliance efficiencies
- allow for consistent messaging, guidance and approaches to exemptions, and
- streamline the exemption application process.
There will still be a number of arms of government involved in AML/CFT functions, including the Ministry of Justice, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the New Zealand Police and New Zealand Customs Service.
A move to a single supervisor should help streamline the coordination process between these agencies and provide greater efficiencies.
The new levy structure, which will partly fund the new supervisory model, will need careful thought, and the industry will have a keen interest in the extent of the levy and its impact on the cost of doing business.
To discuss this development please contact any of our experts.