Ever since 1 January 2019, Real Estate Agents have been required to confirm their client’s identity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. The main purpose behind this is to help protect New Zealand’s reputation and economy from money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The documentation we need to verify your identity includes:
- Primary photo identification, for example, a driver’s licence or passport
- Proof of address, for example, a bank statement or utility bill
- Trust Deed (if the client is a Trust)
- Source of Wealth (if the client is a Trust)
In cases where the property is owned by a company we will need to obtain and verify the identity of all shareholders with a 25% or more shareholding.
In cases where the property is owned by a Trust, we will need to obtain and verify all trustees and settlors.
AML checks will only need to be done the first time a client engages us to do business.
White Lion provides their clients with the option of conducting Client Due Diligence (“CDD”) directly through us, or indirectly through a third party. The latter is in our view quicker and easier. Our third party provider will send you a an email or text message prompting you to follow the instructions, which include filling in your date of birth, home address and driver’s licence details. If we haven’t met you before you’ll also be asked to take a photo of yourself and send it through. We may also need to ask you for further information, if your details come back to us as a ‘Fail’ or ‘Partial Pass’.
The timing of us having to conduct CDD depends on the type of transaction. For sales, we need to conduct CDD before the Agency Agreement is signed. For leasing, we need to conduct CDD before presenting an Agreement To Lease to the client.
Nobody likes having to do AML checks, but everyone has to do it. There is no way around it.
