Compliance

Compliance with Anti Money Laundering and Regulatory Requirements

Merchant Credit and Guarantee Corporation Limited, (MCG) is fully compliant with NZ DIA’s AML / CFT and USA Patriot Act Certification requirements.

In early 2000, pursuant to the USA PATRIOT Act and rules issued by the U. S. Department of Treasury, a U. S. Bank or a U. S. Broker Dealer in securities (a “Covered Financial Institution) is required to obtain information from any “Foreign Bank or Foreign Financial Institution” that maintains a Correspondent Account with it.

Money laundering is how criminals disguise the illegal origins of their money. Financiers of terrorism use similar techniques to money launderers to avoid detection by authorities and to protect the identity of those providing and receiving the funds. The Act came into full force on 30 June 2013.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML / CFT Act) places obligations on New Zealand’s financial institutions and casinos to detect and deter money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Act ensures that businesses take appropriate measures to guard against money laundering and terrorism financing. This enhances the reputation of individual businesses, and of New Zealand as a safe place in which to do business.

Who does what?

The agencies that supervise AML / CFT regime and the businesses (known as reporting entities under the Act) they will monitor are:

  • The Reserve Bank of New Zealand supervises banks, life insurers, and non-bank deposit takers.
  • The Financial Markets Authority supervises issuers of securities, licensed supervisors, fund managers, brokers and custodians, financial advisers, derivatives issuers, DIMS providers and peer to peer lending and equity crowd funding service providers.
  • The Department of Internal Affairs supervises casinos, non-deposit taking lenders, money changers, money remitters, payroll remitters, debt collectors, factors, financial lessors, safe deposit box vaults, non-bank credit card providers, stored value card providers and cash transporters, and any other reporting entities not supervised by the Reserve Bank or the Financial Markets Authority.
  • The Ministry of Justice is responsible for drafting and administering the AML / CFT Act and regulations. The Financial Markets Authority took over the AML / CFT functions of its predecessor, the Securities Commission of New Zealand, on 1 May 2011.
  • The New Zealand Police Financial Intelligence Unit collates and analyses information relating to suspicious transactional activity.
How does MCG comply?

If an operating business falls within the definition of reporting entity Under Section 5 of the Act, you will need:

  • A Risk Assessment of the money laundering and financing of terrorism that you could expect in the course of running your business.
  • An AML /CFT Programme that includes procedures to detect, deter, manage and mitigate money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
  • A Compliance Officer appointed to administer and maintain your AML / CFT programme.
  • Customer Due Diligence processes including customer identification and verification of identity.
  • Suspicious Transaction Reporting, Auditing and Annual Reporting systems and processes.
  • You will have to meet these requirements after the Act comes fully into force on 30th June 2013.
  • Codes of practice and guidelines will be released to help you determine what your obligations are and how you can meet them.

MCG has appointed an external compliance consultant who has put all this in place for the financial company and MCG are fully compliant with the DIA’s regulation on AML / CFT in the event that it partakes in any financial activity which classifies it as “a reporting entity”. However, MCG for the most part only does consulting activity and does not directly engage in financial services or selling financial products.  MCG’s services are mainly assisting with reports and setup and preparation work for the business and assisting with other facets required for the client to get to the level that they can utilise our introduction to conclude their business.

MCG keep records of all clients in order to maintain integrity of the financial rules and regulations and most importantly the fact that MCG is connected globally with financial Institutions which mostly have similar rules and regulations for identification of clients and other compliances. Terms and Conditions apply and adhering to Data Protection.

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