INTHEBLACK June/July 2024 - Magazine - Page 23
Milan Cooper, CEO of anti-money
laundering tech company First AML,
says the implementation of tranche two
reforms in Australia will create new
compliance obligations for accountants
and other industries.
“It does put more onus on accountants
to know their customer and conduct
customer due diligence when they’ve been
engaged,” Cooper says. “What I would
say to that is, when this does come about,
make sure you look at how you can
streamline this and leverage software
to make your life easy.
Implementation can become an
administrative burden, Cooper adds,
but technology can help accountants
to verify the identity of their clients
remotely and manage the document
collection process.
“Where the challenge really comes in
with this regime is the onboarding of
companies, trusts, partnerships or other
types of complex entities.
“They are more onerous because, under
the AML rules, generally you need to verify all
the directors of a company or any shareholder
with 25 per cent or above. The complexity
and the amount of documentation you have
to collect increases when onboarding those
types of clients.”
Cooper says it is important to recognise
that criminals use accountants and lawyers
to set up entities that can be used to launder
money and support their illegal activities.
“When you dig into the horrors
of the criminal underworld, you realise
it makes sense that we follow this legislation
and play our part to limit criminal
exploitation of the financial system.”
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