Anti-Money Laundering and
Countering the Financing of Terrorism

New Zealand and the FATF

Many countries in the world, including New Zealand, are committed to combating money laundering and terrorist financing by implementing the FATF standards contained in the Recommendations, Interpretive Notes and Best Practice Guidelines. New Zealand joined the FATF in 1990. Article 7 of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which New Zealand ratified in 2002, requires us to implement robust AML/CFT domestic regulatory and supervisory regimes for the banking and non-banking sector. In December 2003, New Zealand also signed the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Article 14 of that Convention requires State Parties to implement comprehensive anti-money laundering measures and to use the standards established by international and regional anti-money laundering bodies (such as the FATF) as a guideline. Recently, the United Nations Security Council strongly urged UN member states to comply with FATF standards ( Security Council Resolution No. 1617, 29 July 2005 (PDF 46KB)).

In October 2003, New Zealand underwent an assessment of its compliance with the FATF Recommendations. A summary of the findings from the evaluation is publicly available: New Zealand: Report on Observations of Standards and Codes, FATF Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (ROSC).(PDF 183KB) The evaluators commented that New Zealand’s criminal justice legislative measures for combating money laundering and terrorist financing are generally sound, and in several areas the effectiveness of those measures has been improved over time. The evaluators suggested that some changes would enhance the system. A number of these changes have already been made and others are being considered by the Government.