Hon Nicole McKee
Associate Minister of Justice

The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act.

“The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that makes amendments to improve the AML/CFT Act,” Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, contains 26 amendments, including:

• Relaxing mandatory enhanced Customer Due Diligence (CDD) requirements for low-risk customers that are trusts, or other vehicles for holding personal assets;
• Changing the definition of a trust and company service provider to provide clarification, removing the potential for certain businesses to be captured twice under the current definition;
• Enabling a more risk-based approach when identifying whether a customer is a foreign politically exposed person, and clarify that the extent of proactive steps required depends on risk; and
• Changes that clarify obligations for businesses under the Act.

“The 26 changes will ensure obligations better align with money laundering and terrorism financing risk, improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and consistency of the AML regime, and support the better functioning of AML/CFT agencies.

“In addition, I am progressing work to provide ministerial exemptions from obligations under the Act and have recently approved six such exemptions. Exemptions reduce compliance costs by relieving businesses with sufficiently low risks of money laundering from providing unnecessary reporting information.

“I have also recently approved the renewal of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Class Exemptions Notice. This comes into effect on 31 December 2024. The exemptions are essential for reducing the compliance burden and minimising duplication for AML/CFT reporting entities operating with a chain of intermediaries.

“I know how important AML exemptions are to New Zealand businesses, so I am prioritising processing these exemptions in a timely way.

“These immediate changes are part of a wider work programme to improve the AML/CFT regime and provide regulatory relief, support tackling organised crime, and improve our compliance with international standards.

“Further changes including changes to the supervisor model and levy, and a wider regulatory package are also being progressed by the Ministry of Justice on a longer-term timeline.”

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