Austrac has released a Consultation Paper and draft new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) Rules to implement recent amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.

To support the changes, AUSTRAC is updating the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (No.1).

These Rules provide detailed information in relation to specific requirements under the AML/CTF Act for current and future reporting entities with more detail on their AML/CTF obligations.

AUSTRAC will amend the AML/CTF Rules framework by creating two separate instruments:

• a new instrument that will align with the Amended AML/CTF Act and would be named the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Rules 2025 (new General Rules). The Exposure Draft Rules are a subset of the new General Rules.
• Some existing exemptions to the current AML/CTF Act would be retained (where appropriate) in the existing AML/CTF Rules, which will be renamed the AML/CTF (Exemptions) Rules 2007 (Exemption Rules).

The reforms would reorganise relevant Rules into ‘Parts’ as follows, organised thematically in the order in which a reporting entity would implement each obligation:
• Part 1: Preliminary
• Part 2: Enrolment
• Part 3: Registration
• Part 4: AML/CTF programs
• Part 5: Customer due diligence
• Part 6: Correspondent banking
• Part 7: Transfers of value
• Part 8: Reporting
• Part 9: Record-keeping
• Part 10: Secrecy and Access
• Part 11: Other matters
• Part 12: Application, saving and transitional provisions
• Schedule 1: Forms

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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
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The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.