FMA issues 12 warnings for money laundering, terrorism financing rule failures

Wednesday 8th February 2017

The Financial Markets Authority has issued formal warnings to 12 entities which failed to comply with rules aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorism financing.

Nine of the entities failed to provide an audit of their Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism risk assessments and programmes and are now taking steps to become compliant, the regulator said in a statement. The FMA said it will take further steps against two reporting entities which didn't respond to its request and another entity that failed to provide its annual report on the issue, as required, if they fail to respond to its warning.

New Zealand regulators, including the Reserve Bank, the Department of Internal Affairs and the FMA began monitoring financial institutions under new laws which came info effect in June 2013 in an attempt to prevent criminals from disguising the illegal origins of their money. The FMA said today that it had requested information from 77 of the 800 entities it supervises, based on a selection of risk factors including previous late filings or failure to carry out an audit report.

It didn't publish the names of the 12 which didn't comply, saying they were all either small businesses or individuals and to do so would have a "disproportionate effect".

Some two-thirds of the entities monitored by the FMA are financial advisers, and other entities include issuers of securities, licensed supervisors, derivatives issuers, providers of discretionary investment management services, fund managers, brokers and custodians, and equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platform providers.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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