Australia’s Anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regime is underpinned by a number of legislative instruments, including the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (No 1), the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (Prescribed Foreign Countries) Regulations 2018 and the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988.
AUSTRAC is the regulatory body most commonly associated with the AML/CTF regime, although implementation of the regime is a cooperative effort between a number of government agencies and departments
What is less well known is that Australia is one of only three states which has failed to enact legislation in relation to DNFBPs. – designated non-financial business and professions – which include:
- casinos
- lawyers;
- real estate agents;
- accountants/auditors;
- trust/company service providers; and
- dealers in precious metals/stones.
On 30 March 2022, the Federal Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee recommended that the Commonwealth Government act on the Tranche 2 reforms – bringing the DNFBPs into the AML/CTF regime.
The report by Corrs Chambers Westgarth covers this development in more detail and is well worth a read.
RegulationCity will be watching these developments and reporting on how the AML/CTF Tranche 2 reforms are implemented.
