2007 |
|
31 July |
AUSTRAC has finalised its Draft Guidance Notes on Correspondent
Banking, Exemptions and Modifications under the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and
Register of Providers of Designated Remittance Services. The
Guidance Notes can be found on
AUSTRAC's wesite. |
12 July |
Draft Rules relating to certain threshold amounts in respect of
certain designated services (items 17, 25, 26 and 50 in table 1 of
section 6 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism
Financing Act 2006 (Cth)) were released by AUSTRAC for public
consultation ending 19 July 2007. The Draft Rules can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
5 July |
Draft Rules on ongoing customer due diligence were released by
AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 19 July 2007. The Draft Rules
can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
4 July |
A Draft Guidance Note providing general information as to when an
account has been opened for the purposes of the Anti-Money
Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) was
released by AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 18 July 2007. The
Draft Guidance Note can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
4 July |
A Draft Guidance Note providing general information about risk
management frameworks and legislative requirements relating to AML/CTF
programs was released by AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 18
July 2007. The Draft Guidance Note can be found on
AUSTRAC's
website. |
28 June |
AML/CTF Rules relating to compliance reports and specifying the
reporting and lodgement periods for such reports were made by the
AUSTRAC CEO on 22 June 2007 and registered on 28 June 2007. The
Rules can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
12 June |
Correspondent banking obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering
and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) came into force. See
Austrac's
media release for more information. |
4 June |
A Draft Guidance Note on Correspondent Banking was released by AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 18 June 2007. The Draft Guidance Note can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
29 May |
Draft Rules on the definition of an 'approved third-party bill payment system' under the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
(Cth) were released by AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 12 June 2007. The Draft Rules can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
29 May |
Draft Rules on Electronic Funds Transfer Instructions were released by AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 12 June 2007. The Draft Rules can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
29 May |
A Draft Guidance Note on Designated Business Groups was released by AUSTRAC for public consultation, ending 12 June 2007. The Draft Guidance Note can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
25 May |
A Draft Guidance Note on Exemptions and Modifications under the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
(Cth) was released by AUSTRAC for public consultation, ending 7 June 2007. The Draft Guidance Note can be found at
AUSTRAC's website. |
25 May |
Five regulatory policies setting out AUSTRAC's approach to education, monitoring, exemptions, enforcement and supervisory framework were released. The policies can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
23 May |
A Self Assessment Questionnaire to help reporting entities comply with the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
(Cth) and 'track their progress' towards compliance was released by AUSTRAC. Details of the Questionnaire can be found on
AUSTRAC's website. |
18 May |
A draft Guidance Note on the Register of Providers of Designated Remittance Services was released by AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 31 May 2007. (See
Client update: Anti-money Laundering - 22 May 2007). |
15 May |
Draft AML/CTF Rules relating to the first compliance reporting period under the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
(Cth) were released by AUSTRAC for public consultation ending 29 May 2007. (See
Client update: Anti-money Laundering - 21 May 2007). |
13 April |
AML/CTF Rules relating to the 'designated business group' definition, correspondent banking, customer identification, AML/CTF programs, gambling services and paragraph (e) of the definition of 'correspondent banking relationship' in section 5 of the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
(Cth) were registered. (See
Focus: Anti-money Laundering - May 2007). |
12 April |
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2007
(Cth), which amends the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, received Royal Assent. (See
Client update: Anti-money Laundering - February 2007 and
Focus: Anti-money Laundering - May 2007). |
31 January |
Minister for Justice and Customs issued
Policy (Civil Penalty Orders) Principles 2006 confirming AUSTRAC will only apply for civil penalty orders against reporting entities in the 15 month period after each stage of the
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) takes effect, if the AUSTRAC CEO is satisfied that the reporting entity has failed to take reasonable steps to comply. (See
Client update: Anti-money Laundering - February 2007). |
2006 |
|
20 December |
AML/CTF
Rules relating to movements of bearer negotiable instruments,
movements of physical currency into or out of Australia, receipts of
physical currency from outside Australia and register of providers
of designated remittance services were registered. |
13 December |
The first
phase of the substantive provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 and the Anti-Money Laundering
and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Transitional Provisions and
Consequential Amendments) Act 2006 came into force. For more, see
Focus publications of
8 December 2006 and
14 December 2006. |
12 December |
The
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 and
the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing
(Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2006 received Royal Assent. |
7 December |
The
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2006 and
the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing
(Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2006
received their third reading in the Senate and were passed without
amendment. The Bills will come into effect on Royal Assent. |
28
November |
The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs released its
Report on the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2006 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2006. |
17 November |
APEC Ministers endorsed Australia's proposal to conduct two counter-terrorism financing workshops in 2007 for officials from APEC economies. |
17 November |
AAR made a
submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2006. |
9 November |
The Financial Transaction Reports Amendment Act 2006 received Royal Assent.
|
1 November |
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2006 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2006 were introduced into the House of Representatives and received their second reading. |
4
August |
The public consultation process conducted by the Attorney-General's Department and AUSTRAC expired. AAR made submissions to the Attorney-General's Department and AUSTRAC. |
1
August |
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee released its Report on the Financial Transaction Reports Amendment Bill 2006.
|
13 July |
Senator Ellison released the revised draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2006 and a package of draft AML/CTF Rules. The Bill is subject to a public consultation period conducted by the Attorney-General's Department and AUSTRAC, due to expire on 04 August 2006. For more, see Focus publications of 27 July and
3 August 2006.
Senator
|
10 July |
AAR made submissions
to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee on the
Financial Transaction Reports Amendment Bill 2006. |
21 June |
The Financial Transaction Reports Amendment Bill 2006
was introduced into the Senate. The Bill proposes to amend Division 3A of the
Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 (Cth) which comes into force on 14 December 2006.
The Senate referred the Bill to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 01 August 2006. Submissions were called for by 10 July 2006.
|
13
April |
The
initial public consultation process on the Exposure Draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005 conducted by the
Attorney-General's Department expired. AAR made
submissions
to the Attorney-General's Department. The Senate Legal and
Constitutional Legislation Committee released its
Report on the Exposure Draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005. |
7 April |
Senator
Ellison announced the Government's intention to release a revised
draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005 and complete package of Rules by the end of May 2006 to be
followed by a further consultation period of three weeks between the
Ministerial Advisory Group (set up by the Minister) and its various
AML Working Groups. For more, see our
Client update: Anti-Money
Laundering - 7 April 2006 |
14
March |
The
Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee conducted a public hearing
in relation to the Exposure Draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005 after receiving submissions from industry
bodies and other interested parties. AAR made
submissions to the Committee and gave evidence at the
hearing. |
9
February |
The
Senate referred the Exposure Draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005 to the Senate Legal and
Constitutional Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 13
April 2006. |
2005 |
|
16
December |
Senator
Ellison released an Exposure Draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005. The Bill is subject to a
public consultation period conducted by the Attorney-General's
Department, due to expire on 13 April 2006. For more, see
Focus: Anti-money laundering
- December 2005 |
14
December |
The
Anti-Terrorism Act (No 2) 2005 (Cth) received assent. Of
particular relevance to the financial sector are the amendments to the
Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 and the extension of the
terrorist financing offence contained in the Criminal Code. For more,
see: Focus: Anti-money
Laundering Reforms - December 2005. |
3
November |
The
Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 (Cth) amended the financing terrorism offence
contained in the Criminal Code. The Government also introduced the
Anti-Terrorism Bill (No 2) 2005 (Cth). The Bill would bring the
anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing
(CTF)
regime into compliance with some of the FATF Special Recommendations
by amending the Financial Transaction Reports Act and the Criminal
Code |
17
October |
Senator
Ellison issued a press release welcoming the release of the FATF
report and indicated that the Government would, in November 2005,
release an exposure draft of a Bill for public consultation for a
period of four months. |
14
October |
The FATF
published a report on FATF's Mutual Evaluation Assessment of the
Australian anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime (the FATF report). |
July to
September |
Senator
Ellison held a series of roundtable meetings with representatives from
the interested sectors to progress agreement on outstanding issues
related to the Bill and prepare for the release of the draft exposure
legislation. |
March |
FATF
carried out a Mutual Evaluation Assessment of the Australian AML and
CTF measures. |
2004 |
|
June |
Senator
Ellison released the Government's Policy Principles Paper, which set
out the key principles guiding the implementation process for the new
AML/CTF reforms. |
January |
The
Federal Government released five Issues Papers for comment. These were
directed to the financial services sector, real estate dealers,
dealers in precious metals & stones, the gambling industry and legal
practitioners, accountants and company & trust service providers. |
2003 |
|
December |
The
Minister of Justice and Customs, Senator Chris Ellison, announced that
Australia would implement new global AML
and CTF standards, in line
with the FATF Recommendations. |
June |
The FATF
completed a review of the Forty Recommendations and issued the revised
Forty Recommendations. |
2002 |
|
|
The
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) strengthened powers of law
enforcement to target organised criminals and freeze and confiscate
assets. |
|
The
Suppression of Financing of Terrorism Act (Cth) was enacted and aimed
at restricting financial resources available to terrorist
organisations; it made financing of terrorists a criminal offence and
required cash dealers to report terrorist-financing transactions. |
2001 |
|
October |
FATF
expanded its mandate to deal with terrorist financing and issued Eight
Special Recommendations aimed at combating the funding of terrorist
acts and organisations. |
1990 |
|
|
The
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a set of Forty
Recommendations, which became the global anti-money laundering
standards. |
1988 |
|
|
The
Financial Transactions Reporting Act (Cth), Australia's primary
AML legislation, was enacted. It
applied to the financial and gambling sector and imposed obligations
to report significant and suspicious transactions and international
fund transfers, made it an offence to open a bank account in a false
name, and required cash dealers to verify identities of cash holders
or signatories. |
1987 |
|
|
The
Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 (Cth) criminalised money laundering and
provided the means to confiscate laundered money. |
