AML and CTF for law firms: working out whether it applies to you

The question is not whether you are a big firm or a small one. It is whether any of your work falls inside the list. Check AUSTRAC's current guidance, and get advice if a particular service is borderline.

What brings a practice in

• Property transactions. The most common one by a distance.
• Holding or managing client money.
• Setting up or administering companies and trusts.
• It is the service, not the label. A family lawyer handling a property settlement is doing a property transaction.

What follows if it applies

• Enrolment with AUSTRAC. The step with a deadline attached.
• An AML and CTF program. A written document setting out how the practice identifies and manages the risk, proportionate to its size and work.
• Customer due diligence. Knowing who the client is, and for a company or trust, who is behind it.
• Reporting obligations, including suspicious matters.

What practices underestimate

Enrolment is a form. The program and the client checks are the ongoing work, and they change how a matter is opened rather than adding a task at the end of it. A practice that has not decided where identity documents are stored, who can see them and how long they are kept will meet that question with the first file.

If you have not enrolled

Enrol first, then build the program. Enrolment is the part with a date on it.