If you have dealt with a bank, lawyer or share broker recently you will have noticed a lot more questions and a fair bit more paperwork.   This is due to new rules that have come into place and that now we, all accountants, will need to adhere to from 1 October 2018.

Essentially this requires us to identify services that we provide which could be used to assist others to launder money.  Once we have identified those risks, we must ensure we have processes and procedures in place to minimise the risks and report any possible suspicious activity.  There will be a particular focus on overseas transactions and transactions through trusts.

We will do everything we can to minimise the disruption to you but from time to time we may need to ask for additional information about transactions or to verify identities.  Other than more administration for us, we expect, and are hoping, it will have minimal impact on our clients.

If you would like more information, check out either Department of Internal Affairs  or  CAANZ