On 24 October 2019, the Commonwealth House of Representatives considered the Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill 2019.
During the course of the second reading speech, the assistant Treasurer the Hon Michael Sukkar said of the bill “The government is sending a strong message to the community, and to criminal syndicates, more importantly, that using cash to avoid obligations and potentially engage in criminal activity is a serious matter that requires a sufficient level of deterrence.”
Over the past several years, there have been a number of changes to anti-money laundering requirements for businesses including law firms and financial institutions. This particular bill, introduces offences for entities that make or accept cash payments of $10,000 or more. An entity will include, for the purposes of these offences, an entity as provided for by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997:
- An individual
- A body corporate
- A body politic
- A partnership
- Any other unincorporated association or body or persons
- A trust
- A superannuation fund
- An approved deposit fund.
It is proposed that these offences would not apply to certain types of cash transactions pursuant to a set of rules.
Robertson O’Gorman Solicitors are leaders in the field and experts in assisting businesses, entities and individuals who are the subject of investigations into suspected money laundering activities. Our lawyers have specialist knowledge of the laws under which the agencies investigating this conduct, namely AUSTRAC, the AFP, the ATO and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) operate.
If you require advice in relation to your compliance with the complex anti-money laundering legislative regime, contact Robertson O’Gorman Solicitors.