Dean Jacqui: Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Bill — First Reading 
Dean Jacqui: Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:655;Page:4775] 
JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki) 
: 
 I rise to speak to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Bill. Intelligence gathering has played a paramount role in every war: the war against money-laundering has been no exception. It started around 20 years ago as an extension of the battleground on the war on drugs and also in the aftermath of September 11 2001. It became fused with the new fight against terrorism of which the fight against the financing of terrorism has become an integral part. With the increasing importance of intelligence in this war the scope for financial intelligence-gathering has grown as well. Legislative developments in this field have therefore risen to unprecedented levels of information collection allocation and dissemination. 
Particularly critical in the arsenal of Governments internationally has been the global network of financial intelligence units fed by a host of auxiliary—that is primary—financial institutions required to report suspicious transactions. This quiet reporting of financial intelligence is crucial in detecting money-laundering and the financing of terrorism. In today’s world one does not need huge sums of money to fund a terrorist attack. Indeed £15000 was all it cost the July 7 London bombers to wreak havoc. 
Tracing terrorism financiers across the globe requires a globally consistent approach to attaching customer information to wire transfers alongside reporting expectations. This bill will place New Zealand in line with the international standards of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering as well as better equipping the New Zealand Police with financial intelligence about our own domestic organised criminal organisations. This bill is important. It is needed and as the House has already heard it will bring in a number of obligations for private businesses. 
The bill will also bring about some changes to Government agencies. This bill will enhance the existing supervisory roles of the Securities Commission the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Department of Internal Affairs by making them supervisors of the anti - money-laundering and countering financial terrorism framework. Although the focus of these roles may be new these agencies are all experienced supervisors in their own right having complementary supervisory roles under existing legislation. In recent years both the Reserve Bank and the Securities Commission have had their supervisory roles expanded to better address the needs for responsible and considered regulation throughout the financial sector. This bill is another aspect of the proper and responsible regulation that these agencies find themselves leading. 
Anti - money-laundering and countering financial terrorism supervisors will work with not against the businesses they regulate. Their role is to facilitate businesses putting in place sound and proper anti - money-laundering and countering financial terrorism programmes. However where a financial provider or a casino is being reticent the supervisors are there to spot the gaps in their industries and work to ensure that all the entities under the supervisor are complying with their statutory obligations. Because there are three supervisors there is a need to ensure that there is consistency across supervisors and that the supervisors work together with the Financial Intelligence Unit and each other to support a successfully implemented anti - money-laundering and countering financial terrorism regime. This bill sets out a national coordination committee which led by the Ministry of Justice will ensure that the system beds in effectively and efficiently and will be the forum that all the Government agencies involved in the running of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Bill will work through together. 
Money-laundering and the financing of terrorism know no borders. The flow of money through global financial systems is the main focus of this bill. However the flow of cash across borders is also an area of concern. So this bill also addresses the carrying of cash across the border. The bill increases the penalties for failing to declare if one is carrying large amounts of cash across the border. Informal cash couriers are an internationally recognised method of financing terrorism and that is why people coming into or going out of New Zealand must declare if they are carrying more than $10000. As the enforcers of cross-border cash requirements this bill also allows the New Zealand Customs Service to use its pre-existing already scrutinised powers for questions search and if necessary seizure of undeclared or mis-declared cash. 
This bill will help New Zealand tackle domestic organised crime allow New Zealand to meaningfully contribute to global counter-terrorism financing efforts and help ensure that those who are ripping off the New Zealand taxpayer are caught and held to account. I commend this bill to the House.