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A programme of legislative reform is overhauling New Zealand’s system for tackling money laundering and terrorist financing. The reforms aim to provide regulatory relief for businesses, detect and deter criminals from our financial system, and protect our international reputation as a trusted place to do business.
The reforms:
provide immediate regulatory relief to businesses
introduce structural changes to improve system efficiencies. This includes moving to a single supervisor, developing a National Strategy and work programme, and a new sustainable funding model
make regulatory improvements to provide further regulatory relief to New Zealanders, and to uphold our international reputation as a safe country to invest and do business.
Read the announcement by the Associate Minister of Justice, Hon Nicole McKee:
Money laundering is the process criminals use to ‘clean’ the money they make from illegal activities such as fraud, drugs, and tax evasion. They do this by buying, selling, and channelling funds through things such as property, luxury goods and financial services. Criminals launder money so it looks like it comes from a legitimate source, to cover their tracks and avoid being detected. They then spend the money or use it to fund criminal activities. People who finance terrorism use similar methods to channel funds to violent causes. For more information, see:
The foundation of New Zealand’s system to tackle money laundering is the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act 2009 and associated regulations.
On 1 July 2026 the Department of Internal Affairs took over responsibility for supervising and providing guidance to businesses and industries who are required to comply with the AML/CFT Act. These are:
Accountants
Banks
Casinos and Gambling
Financial service providers and other financial institutions (including non-bank deposit takers).
Other government agencies involved in the AML/CFT regime include:
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for policy development and administration of the law. It also handles all matters related to exemptions from the Act.
The New Zealand Police Financial Intelligence Unit receives and analyses suspicious transaction reports. It issues guidance to reporting agencies and supervisors about compliance under the Act and provides information on money laundering and terrorism trends and methods. Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)(external link)