As we’ve been writing about this year, the Tranche 2 AML reform train has arrived in Australia, with the release today of a consultation paper from the Attorney-General’s department that outlines the proposed reforms that will remove the risk of FATF sanction for Australia and substantially uplift its AML CTF environment.
The Australian Government is committed to protecting Australians and preventing criminal abuse of our financial system. Reforms to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime are required to ensure it continues to effectively deter, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorism financing, and meet international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global financial crime watchdog.
The AML/CTF regime establishes a regulatory framework for combatting money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious financial crimes. At its core, the AML/CTF regime is a partnership between the Australian Government and industry. No legitimate business wants to unwittingly assist money laundering. Through the regulatory framework, businesses are asked to play a vital role in detecting and preventing criminals from misusing their sectors and products to launder money and fund terrorism.
As the Attorney-General announced in April 2023, we are consulting on reforms to the regime. We held our first round of stakeholder consultation between April and June last year.
We have considered the feedback from the first round of consultation and have used it to develop the detailed reform proposals outlined in the following second stage consultation papers:
Reforming Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime – Overview [PDF 214 KB]
Paper 1: Further information for real estate professionals [PDF 306 KB]
Paper 2: Further information for professional service providers [PDF 400 KB]
Paper 3: Further information for dealers in precious metals and precious stones [PDF 284 KB]
Paper 4: Further information for digital currency exchange providers (DCEPs), remittance service providers and financial institutions [PDF 338 KB]
Paper 5: Broader reforms to simplify, clarify and modernise the regime (which will apply to current and new proposed reporting entities) [PDF 1.7 MB]
This consultation and the government’s response to it will drive significant change for Australian businesses. It is more important than ever to make sure that you are educating yourself about the modern anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing environment, as the costs of non-compliance in this new era for Australian small businesses and family-owned businesses will be high when added to the economic pressures of the past few years.
