From 1 July 2018 onwards, law firms throughout New Zealand, including AJ Park, must comply with the requirements of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (the Act).
Changes introduced by the Act mean that we have to complete customer due diligence (CDD) in accordance with the requirements of the Act, including verifying your identity address, and depending on the circumstances, verifying the source of wealth or source of funds. We may also need to ask you about the identification of any beneficial owners or any person on whose behalf you are acting. We will also be required to report suspicious activities to the Department of Internal Affairs.
For new clients of AJ Park, CDD will include taking reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that information you provide us is correct, you may be asked to provide passport or driver licence details as part of this process.
For existing clients of AJ Park, CDD will be carried out when you send us new instructions to provide services. We are required to comply with this obligation even though we may have had a long-standing working relationship with you or carried out work for you previously.
If you require more information or have any questions about these new requirements please contact Kim McLeod, Director or Grace Havill, AML Compliance Officer.