What do lawyers, accountants and real estate agents have in common? They’ll be affected by changes to Australian AML/CTF laws
The Australian Attorney-General’s Department has commenced consultation on proposed reforms to extend Australia’s AML/CTF regime to lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and other high-risk professions (referred to as tranche 2 entities).
If enacted, this will mean lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and the other tranche 2 entities will need to comply with AML/CTF obligations including:
- enrolling with AUSTRAC;
- conducting customer due diligence
- making suspicious matter reporting and complying with other reporting obligations under the AML/CTF Act;
- developing and maintaining an AML/CTF Program; and
- complying with report-keeping obligations.
These proposed reforms have been in the making for several years. Most recently, the reforms were previously recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (a global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog) and the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Senate Committee in March 2022.
Submissions and feedback can be submitted on the Department’s Consultation hub. The closing date for submissions is 16 June 2023.
Queries
If you want to know how the new proposed changes will affect your business or would like assistance in making a submission, please contact a member of our Fintech, Privacy & Emerging Technologies team.
Disclaimer
This information and the contents of this publication, current as at the date of publication, is general in nature to offer assistance to Cornwalls’ clients, prospective clients and stakeholders, and is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal or financial advice. If you are concerned about any topic covered, we recommend that you seek your own specific legal and financial advice before taking any action.