New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs reported that the Statutes Amendment Bill has passed its third reading and includes amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 aimed at simplifying customer verification for reporting entities. The changes remove the requirement to verify the address of a customer, beneficial owner, or person acting on behalf of a customer as part of standard customer due diligence, while retaining address verification under enhanced customer due diligence. Other amendments now in effect extend the deadline for prescribed transaction reports from 10 to 20 working days, extend the maximum time for a law firm to submit a suspicious activity report to the Financial Intelligence Unit from 3 to 5 working days, and clarify the definition of “occasional transaction” by excluding cheque deposits made at a registered bank or non-bank deposit taker.
Department of Internal Affairs 2025-11-27
New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs changes AML customer due diligence to remove address verification from standard checks
New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs announced the passage of the Statutes Amendment Bill, amending the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. Key changes include removing address verification in standard customer due diligence, while retaining it for enhanced due diligence. The amendments extend deadlines for prescribed transaction reports to 20 working days and suspicious activity reports by law firms to 5 working days, and clarify the definition of "occasional transaction" by excluding cheque deposits at registered banks or non-bank deposit takers.