The six firms on the list did not conduct independent audits of AML/CFT programmes
Six Auckland-based law firms were issued formal warnings by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) over a lack of compliance with anti-money laundering audit requirements, reported the NZ Herald.
Singhs Lawyers, Robertsons Associates Limited, Castleview Law Limited, FC Law Partners, Woodroffe Lawyers and Māngere Law Limited were among 10 organisations warned by the DIA under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act 2009. At least twice, the organisations in question did not conduct independent audits of their AML/CFT programmes and risk assessments.
Other companies that received a formal warning were payment provider Flexi Online New Zealand Limited, real estate agency Countryman Realty Limited, accounting services provider Cook North & Wong Limited, and non-bank, non-deposit-taking lender Wilton Finance Limited.
The DIA was recently confirmed as the sole AML/CFT supervisor in February in line with the government’s new AML/CFT national strategy for 2026-30. The department officially takes charge of overseeing AML/CFT concerns on 1 July.
The High Court also recently ordered the Financial Markets Authority to disclose enforcement documents issued to other reporting entities in an AML case against InvestNow.
Earlier this month, the High Court slapped ASB Bank with a $6.731m penalty for seven AML/CFT Act breaches. This was the highest payout ordered by a New Zealand court for AML violations. Associate justice minister Nicole McKee is set to introduce a bill to parliament calling for a significant increase in maximum penalties for non-compliance with the AML/CFT regime.
In 2024, then-Law Society president Frazer Barton penned a letter to McKee calling for the prioritisation of AML/CFT compliance reform. He raised concerns lawyers faced with the process, which included the passing of compliance costs to clients in a move that affected the affordability of legal services and in the process, access to justice. Subsequently, the government introduced an amendment bill that pitched 26 changes to the AML/CFT Act.
Last year, the Statutes Amendment Bill was passed to eliminate the need for verifying customer addresses as part of standard customer due diligence. The government said the change would remove red tape as part of the overhaul to the AML/CFT system by limiting unnecessary paperwork, among others.
“AML rules have been unclear for too long, and businesses have been forced into overly conservative, box-ticking compliance”, McKee said.
