New Zealand has passed a law called the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (the AML/CFT Law). The purpose of the law reflects New Zealand’s commitment to the international initiative to counter the impact that criminal activity has on people and economies within the global community.

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Recent changes to the AML/CFT Act mean that from 1 July 2018, lawyers are required to comply with its requirements. The law says that law firms and other professionals must assess the risk they may face from the actions of money launders and people who finance terrorism and to identify potentially suspicious activity.

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To make that assessment lawyers must obtain and verify information from prospective and existing clients about a range of things. This is part of what the AML/CFT law calls “customer due diligence’ (‘CDD’).

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The following are details of what we will require from you.

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Client Due Diligence and Identity Verification

 

The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT) requires a law firm to undertake certain background checks before providing services to clients or customers. Lawyers must take reasonable steps to make sure the information they receive from clients is correct, and so we need to ask for documents that show this.

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We will need to obtain and verify certain information from you to meet these legal requirements. This information includes:

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• Your full name; and

• Your date of birth; and

• Your address.

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To confirm these details, documents such as your passport, driver’s licence or birth certificate, and documents that show your address, such as a current bank statement or a utilities bill will be required.

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If you are seeing us about company or trust business, we will need information about the company or trust including the people associated with it (such as directors and shareholders, trustees and beneficiaries).

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We may also need to ask you for further information. We will need to ask you about the nature and purpose of the proposed work you are asking us to do for you. Information confirming the source of funds for a transaction may also be necessary to meet the legal requirements.

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If we are not able to obtain the required information from you, it is likely we will not be able to act for you.

Before we start working for you, we will let you know what information we need, and what documents you need to show us and let us photocopy.

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Please contact the lawyer at Smith Wood & Woods who will be undertaking your work, if you have any queries or concerns.

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Click below to download the above information as PDF documents:

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING ACT (PDF)

CLIENT DUE DILIGENCE AND IDENTITY VERIFICATION (PDF)

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