The
New Zealand Law Society has released a guide for lawyers to help them explain the new information required by the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Funding of Terrorism legislation.
The document, titled “Why we need to ask you for your information”, details recommended explanations on why new information must be collected and verified by law firms to satisfy due diligence requirements of the law.
Law firms will have to undertake background checks, which includes asking for new documents to verify information.
“Clients who have never been asked for such information before or who are trying to engage a lawyer for the first time after 1 July 2018 may be surprised at being required to prove their identity and address,” the Law Society said.
The Law Society is giving lawyers and law firm the permission to freely use the document, including customising it with their own logo or other identifying information.
The document can be downloaded
here.
Related stories:
Planned AML/CFT annual report form “poorly constructed”
Law firms encouraged to pool resources to meet anti-money-laundering obligations
