Next year will see an important statutory review of the Anti-Money Laundering & Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 take place. It is crucial that issues like the most efficient form of regulatory framework should be on the table for debate.
There are currently three AML/CFT supervisors in New Zealand; the Financial Markets Authority, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Each covers different sectors of reporting entities, with the DIA now very much the larger of the three.
When Radio New Zealand came to interview Gary for its Morning Report show, they were interested in the parities and disparities in this three-part regulatory framework.
Gary suggested that, from his experience working in the area since about 2008, having one centralised regulator would make the AML/CFT regime in New Zealand more cohesive, especially to improve regulatory consistency and ease current duplication levels. The Police Financial Intelligence Unit sits to one side independently, as it is not one of the sector supervisors, and that should remain the case.
In the current economic climate, both private sector reporting entities and public sector supervising agencies are being expected to get by with less revenue and staffing resources. To say the AML regime has grown to become more complex would be an understatement. At this stage of the economic cycle, any element that is having the effect of adding further complexity, need for multi-level co-ordination efforts, and compliance cost, should be closely scrutinised during the 2021 statutory review process.
You can read the full article at Radio New Zealand here.
Recent Comments