New Zealand launched fresh measures to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) laws by tackling financial crime networks frontally. Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee launched a complete reform package, including a ban on cryptocurrency ATMs in all of New Zealand and a new $5,000 cap per international money transfer.
Unveiled yesterday, this is part of a broader overhaul of the government’s AML and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regime. It will make it harder for organized crime to transfer dirty money domestically and overseas. Enforcement will become more efficient, and regulatory reach more intense, through the use of these reforms.
Minister McKee also clarified that there will be a bill initiated that will grant broader powers to both police and financial regulators. Such powers will facilitate authorities to more easily and efficiently respond to suspected money laundering operations.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will gain expanded authority to request routine financial data. This includes access to information on individuals or entities of interest from banks and other reporting bodies.
Reforms also include a complete ban on cryptocurrency ATMs, which are often used to quickly transmute large amounts of fiat money into digital currencies.
Such machines are also considered by authorities to be a high-risk channel for money laundering of crime proceeds, partly because most digital currencies were initially created to keep anonymity.
New Zealand updates financial compliance laws
In addition, FIU can now access corroborative data from other regulated industries to have a more complete understanding of a suspect’s economic activities. This leads to better-intelligence documentation that can more effectively support criminal cases for perpetrators.
Financial regulations worldwide have evolved dramatically since 2019, and New Zealand’s government wishes to remain current. Two amendment bills currently in parliament will remove unjustified compliance burdens on businesses by the end of the year.
In the next phase, low-risk customers will increasingly be exempt from address verification processes. Similarly, lower-risk trusts will face less stringent due diligence requirements.
These are aimed at keeping regulatory focus where it’s needed most, on true financial crime, not red tape. Consultation with major industry groups will begin shortly and will inform the final national AML strategy and corresponding funding arrangement.
