New responsibilities for Lawyers

From 1 July 2018, all New Zealand Lawyers will have to comply with the Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (“AML”).

The whole purpose of these new rules is to make money laundering difficult for criminals and restrict or stop funds flowing to terrorist organisations. You might have noticed new rules in Banks about the depositing of cash. Now it is the turn of Lawyers to comply and soon accountants and Real Estate agents will have to comply also.

Lawyer’s Trust Accounts are potentially an easy way to launder money from the proceeds of crime or to hide money from its original illegal or criminal source. From 1 July 2018 Lawyers will have a duty to report suspicious transactions to the Police.

Client Responsibilities

We are required to know our clients and to carry out client due diligence. In practice this means we need to verify who you are by obtaining:

• Copies of your passport
• Or copies of your driver’s license plus another supporting document
• Copies of bank statement or other official document (utility bill), which confirms your address
• Your agreement to carry out electronic verification.