Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill
This bill updates New Zealand's rules for stopping money laundering and the funding of terrorism. It makes businesses that handle money — like banks and financial services — follow clearer rules about checking who their customers are, reporting suspicious activity, and declaring when they move valuables like gold or casino chips across the border (not just cash). It also creates a new lighter penalty called a 'censure' (an official written warning) for businesses that break the rules, and makes it easier for regulators to recover their costs.
What this affects
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Businesses that handle money will face clearer rules about checking who their customers really are and reporting suspicious activity, with new penalties if they don't comply.
beneficial owner means the individual who has effective control of a customer or person on whose behalf a transaction is conducted
The relevant AML/CFT supervisor may censure a person... if the AML/CFT supervisor is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the person has engaged in conduct that constitutes a civil liability act
If the court orders that a person pay a pecuniary penalty, the court must also order that the penalty must be applied first to pay the AML/CFT supervisor's actual costs in bringing the proceedings
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Justice Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 13 February 2025.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.