Contact: Chris Cass
Deloitte
Partner
02 9322 7060

Contact: Melinda Loew
Deloitte
Media Relations
02 9322 7146

Time is fast running out for impacted organisations to make submissions on the Federal Government’s proposed Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) Draft Legislation.

Leading AML adviser and Deloitte Forensic Partner, Chris Cass said organisations would need to move quickly to assess the day-to-day operational and business risks generated by the Draft Bill.

"This is the last chance for impacted organisations to directly lobby the government for changes to the form and content of the proposed legislation," Mr Cass stressed.

Formal submissions on the Draft Bill are due by Thursday April 13, 2006 and the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Chris Ellison has reaffirmed there will not be any extension to this date.

"Any involvement in a designated service, which are defined extremely broadly, will mean an organisation will need to give careful consideration to the extent of their AML and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF) programs to avoid costly rework or penalties," he said.

"We believe that there will also be a significant number of other organisations outside of financial services and gambling who are also likely to be caught up in the first tranche of the law’s introduction. Many organisations are currently aware of the prospective obligations.

"For the first time, anti-money laundering reporting obligations will be extended to non-financial businesses and professions including accountants, trust and company service providers, and lawyers.

"Board members and CEOs will be primarily responsible under the proposed changes and the penalties for not complying are extensive."

Mr Cass said the proposed issue of third party verification will have a significant impact on the operations of the Australian retail financial services industry, particularly those making use of advisor or intermediary networks.

"The proposed risk-based approach underpinning the Bill also presents an opportunity as organisations that implement effective and transparent risk frameworks will greatly reduce their compliance burden and cost," Mr Cass said.