Our response and enforcement function is made up of the teams who assess and address conduct that poses harm to New Zealanders at the more significant end of the spectrum, as well as our specialist supervision teams who supervise, monitor and deal with conduct that applies across different sectors. We are introducing these teams, sharing more about the work that they do as well as the impact they hope their work will have.
This month we are introducing the Anti-Money Laundering team, one of four teams in Specialist Supervision.
Money laundering, financing terrorism and proliferation financing (providing the means to produce weapons of mass destruction) are complex and, let’s be honest, quite remote concepts for every day New Zealanders. However, it is something that New Zealand needs to grapple with alongside many other jurisdictions across the world.
New Zealand’s response to these risks was the introduction of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) which provided a set of obligations for businesses working in the financial sectors. It also set up the role of supervisor agencies to support and monitor businesses’ efforts in keeping themselves safe from misuse.
The FMA has been a supervisor for our sectors since 2009 (well – it was the Securities Commission back then), and we have supported businesses in understanding their obligations ever since the AML/CFT Act came in to force in 2013. In 2023 the FMA decided to form a dedicated AML Team to ensure the appropriate focus was being given to support our AML sectors.
The team works with businesses by producing sector risk assessments, providing guidance, responding to queries and working alongside our supervisory partners (RBNZ and DIA) on NZ wide AML/CFT issues. They engage more directly through desk-based reviews of the businesses’ AML/CFT policies, procedures and controls as well as assessing risk assessments. They also visit businesses to get a real sense of how they operate and test the effectiveness of their day-to-day AML/CFT processes, and work with other FMA teams on appropriate regulatory responses if material breaches are identified.
The FMA wants the businesses we regulate to be as successful as possible in protecting themselves from misuse by bad actors who want easy entry into the financial system.
If you have any questions about the work of the Anti-Money Laundering team you can email [email protected].
