The first 13 class exemptions listed in The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Class Exemptions) Notice 2018(external link) are due to expire on 30 June 2023. Minister Russell, the Associate Minister of Justice, has agreed to progress a renewal of these exemptions for a period of 18 months. However, certain elements of the managing intermediaries exemptions will be retained for only 6 months. This is explained below.
This 18 month period will align considerations of the class exemptions with the timing of wider work on the AML/CFT regime. This period will also allow time for the Ministry to conduct a full review of the class exemptions, with regard to the criteria outlined in section 157(3) of the Act.
The full review of the class exemptions is already underway. The Ministry will be engaging in consultation on proposed changes to the class exemptions in the coming months.
In the meantime, this short-term renewal makes minor changes to part 5 and 6 of the Notice (the managing intermediary exemptions). These exemptions overlap with the new draft AML/CFT early regulations package, which are due to come into force later this year. The changes to the definition of “beneficial ownership” in those regulations would mean that the “customers of customers” are no longer captured under the Act. The managing intermediaries’ exemptions will be altered to reflect this to avoid any confusion between the two sets of regulations.
Minister Russell has agreed to a six-month renewal for all sections of these two class exemptions that will be covered by the early regulations package. This allows time for the early regulations package to come into effect before those redundant elements of the class exemptions are phased out.
The new notice has been notified in the Gazette(external link) and comes into force on June 30. Please direct any questions you may have about this to the Ministry using the aml@justice.govt.nz email address.