Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
The Anti-Money Laundering & Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (which is quite a mouthful, but “AML” for short) applies to all NZ law firms – and their clients.
What does it mean for me?
The law says that we have to know all of our clients. That’s easy, you say. You’ve been with us for a while – of course we know you! Not so. In many ways yes, but AML tells us that we must now have proof of your identity, such as copies of your ID and documents verifying your address. If you have a company or trust, we will need more information still. If you’ve had to open a bank account in the past few years, you’ll know what it’s like having to provide documentation. The same rules apply to us
So, the next time you come in to see us, or contact us to act for you, our lawyers may need to sight your ID and proof of address. We may do this in person or we may be able to do this electronically. It’s called CDD – Customer Due Diligence, so if we tell you that we need to conduct CDD, or AML, that’s what we’re talking about.
We’ll likely ask for that required information the next time we see you, even if we might already hold some of it. If you have difficulty producing some of what we ask for, please talk to us. If, for example, you don’t have a passport or photo ID driver’s licence, there may be other ways we can meet our AML obligations.
We’ll make it all just as easy for you as we can, but we do need your co-operation. If we’re unable to complete our required CDD, we are by law unable to continue to work with you, and we wouldn’t want that.
For more information on AML feel free to contact your usual Corcoran French lawyer, or our AML Compliance Officer AMLCompliance@cflaw.co.nz