Registering with your anti-money laundering supervisor
The Department of Internal Affairs (the DIA) has recently emailed a number of barristers telling them that they need to register with their anti-money laundering supervisor. The Bar Association is applying to the Minister of Justice under s 157 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act (the Act) for an exemption from the requirements of the Act in circumstances in which a barrister acts on direct instructions from an instructing solicitor or from the Crown.
However, until the outcome of that application is known, barristers will need to act in accordance with the Act's requirements.
All barristers who receive the DIA's email will need to consider whether activities that they undertake in the ordinary course of your business are covered by the Act. The Bar Association published an article (see below on this page) which describes the limited extent to which the Act might apply to activities carried out by a barrister. If a barrister believes that their activities undertaken in the ordinary course of their work might be caught by the Act, they will need to respond accordingly to the DIA’s email.
However, it is important for all barristers to complete the form, to provide DIA with assurance that they have considered whether or not they are captured. If a barrister considers that they are not captured, please complete the form (ticking ‘None of the above’) and return it to DIA. Practices that are not captured will receive no further communications from DIA.
