01/07/2026
From 1 July 2026, all law firms, accountants and real estate agents are required to comply with Australian anti-money laundering laws.
We could write no end of complaints about the stupidity of these laws, the lack of accountability of financial institutions better placed to actually monitor these things and the passing of the proverbial buck to small business but here we are, here is the law and the penalties include multi-millions and even jail penalties for those who do not comply.
Perhaps we feel a little salty with the 1 July commencement date - anyone who actually works in the services sought to be regulated by these AML laws will appreciate it is a manic time of year to be at work but then add on top to write and implement new procedures, train staff and commence client onboarding.
So, we deal with it - as Australian business usually does.
What you need to know - from 1 July 2026, all law firms, real estate agents and accountants need to comply with AML laws when carrying out designated services. Generally speaking for work we see, this would be purchases and sales of property, setting up companies and trusts. In those transactions, we will need to ask clients questions about foreign connections, poltically exposed people and where the funds came from for their purchase.
We have worked hard to try and make this mountain of compliance as simple as possible for you. We have invested in our electronic platforms also to get this done. We fully expect our customers to not delight in being asked these questions. Trust us - we arent excited to be asking them. All we ask is that you work with us to tick this box. If you feel strongly enough - perhaps write a letter to your local minister. We are required by law to do this.
The annoying thing for our customers is that it adds more compliance work that adds no value for our customers, it also adds a duplication (and in some cases, a triplication) of the disclosure work that a customer may have to do if they engage with their lawyer, accountant and a realtor on a matter. It also costs us to have to do this work - something that we have to pass along in some form to maintain a strong business.
We are sorry for the inconvenience however, its not our doing and we will do our best to make this easy for all of our clients.
Under the AML laws, we can enter into agreements to share clients AML onboarding initial information to reduce the need for you to do this multiple times. These laws have their own hooks for us to deal with but we are working with our recurring partners in business to settle agreements to make this simpler for all our clients.
If you would like to learn more - please see our article below.
https://smrlaw.com.au/resource/aml-ctf-laws-why-we-may-need-to-ask-for-your-id-and-other-information/
