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ARTICLE · 11 AUGUST 2021

Changes to anti-money laundering laws have come into effect: what now?

Corrs Chambers Westgarth
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Changes seek to make it easier for banks to prevent financial crime and to strengthen the Australian financial system.

AustraliaGovernment, Public Sector
Abigail Gill
Abigail Gill
Peter Anderson
Peter Anderson
James Lucek-Rowley
James Lucek-Rowley
Henry Hall
Henry Hall
Allen Clayton-Greene
Allen Clayton-Greene
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Changes to Australia's anti-money laundering and counter terrorism finance laws seek to make it easier for banks and other reporting entities to prevent financial crime and to strengthen Australia's financial system.

On 17 June 2021, amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act) came into effect. This AML/CTF reform program ( known as Phase 1.5) is partially a product of the statutory review of the AML/CTF Act in April 2016 by the Attorney General's Department (Statutory Review).

The reforms are also the result of over five years of legislative consultation and review stimulated by criticisms of the AML/CTF Act in the 2015 Mutual Evaluation Report of Australia by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

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