Anti-Money Laundering Information

WHY WE NEED TO ASK YOU FOR INFORMATION

New Zealand has passed a law called the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (we will call it 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.

Recent changes to the AML/CFT Act mean that from the 1st July 2018, lawyers are required to comply with its requirements. This law requires lawyers to do a number of things to help combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and to help Police bring the criminals who do it to justice. The AML/CFT Law does this because the services law firms and other professionals offer may be attractive to those involved in criminal activity.

The law says that law firms and other professionals must assess the risk they may face from the actions of money launderers and people who finance terrorism and to identify potentially suspicious activity.

CUSTOMER DUE DILIGENCE REQUIREMENTS

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).

To complete our CDD we must 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 they need to ask for documents that show this.

We will need to obtain and verify certain information from you to meet these legal requirements.
This information includes:
• Your full name; and
• Your date of birth; and
• Your address.
To confirm these details, documents such as your driver’s licence or your birth certificate, and documents that show your address, such as a current bank statement will be required.
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).
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.

PRIVACY ACT

If you are an individual, you have a right of access to information which we hold about you. You may request correction of that information and may require your request to be stored with that information (subject to payment of our reasonable costs of providing access to that information).

You authorize our staff to collect, retain and use information about you for our purposes, including to assess your credit-worthiness (for which purpose we are authorised to pass such information on to credit reference agencies). You also authorised our staff to provide any information we may hold about you to and for the use of any credit and/or debt collection agencies we might engage to recover any debts owned by you to our Firm. Under the current legislation we are required to collect information for the purposes of meeting our Anti Money Laundering and Countering of Financing of Terrorism obligations. We use a third party Company to carry out this work and you hereby authorize us to pass your details to them for the purposes of this verification.

We can also provide you with commercial emails about our services and information about developments in the law and other information which we believe may be of interest to you. You agree pursuant to the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 that we have your express consent to send commercial emails to you unless you inform us otherwise in writing or unsubscribe from such emails.

Please refer to the Privacy Policy page of this website.

IF YOU CANNOT PROVIDE THE NECESSARY INFORMATION

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 you, we will let you know what information we need, and what documents you need to show us and let us photocopy.
Please contact the lawyer who will be undertaking your work, if you have any queries or concerns.