Anti-Money Laundering / Counter – Terrorism Financing Act – New Developments

There have been a number of recent amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering / Counter-Terrorism Act (AML / CTF Act). Many reporting entities are confused by the changes which include:

• an obligation on all reporting entities to enrol with AUSTRAC;
• an obligation on persons providing a "designated remittance arrangement" to register with AUSTRAC; and
• the introduction of a new AUSTRAC levy from 1 January 2012.

AUSTRAC has written to all reporting entities which have previously lodged compliance reports to advise them of these changes.

In addition, reporting entities should be aware of the amendments to the AML / CTF Act which are designed to assist reporting entities wishing to rely on electronic verification of customer identity using information stored on a credit file.