As cheap as chips? Anti-money laundering rules may not prove costly

By Ross Kelly

Last week financial planners were given the first solid indication of what they will have to pay to comply with looming anti-money laundering legislation.

And if accountancy firm Deloitte is to be believed, doing your bit to stem the funding of terrorism could only cost the equivalent of a hamburger.

At the launch of its anti-money laundering compliance tool, which is being dubbed Deloitte AMLcheck, anti-money laundering team head Tim Phillips said they were offering compliance “for the cost of a Big Mac”.

According to Phillips, users of the web-based product, which will go live in October, will only be charged about $3 every time they want to check a client’s name against World-Check — the terrorist database included in the program.

But that’s not all users will have to pay. Just like the payment system on a mobile phone contract, a monthly subscription fee will also apply. For businesses with less than 10 people, that fee will only be $10 per month. The maximum amount will be about $100 for large institutions.

The launch of Deloitte’s tool comes at a time when money laundering is at the forefront of the minds of industry and government.

Two weeks ago the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Chris Ellison, wrapped up a series of roundtables with representatives of the financial services industry, including the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA), on the direction of any future anti-money laundering laws.

So far reactions from industry representatives at the meetings have been positive.

Although stating that financial services businesses will have to accept that costs will be incurred, IFSA chief executive Richard Gilbert went on to say that discussions with the Minister had so far been “very constructive”.

He joined Financial Planning Association manager of policy and government relations John Anning in saying it was now up to the industry to work together to come up with ways of minimising the impact on business of future rules, without reducing their effectiveness.

The formulation of such policy, of course, is only in its infancy, with the nuts and bolts of any draft legislation yet to be decided.

When asked about Deloitte’s program, Gilbert said: “We welcome any developments that will reduce the cost of compliance with any AML program. Tech savvy solutions are critically important. But until we see the real colour and shape of the legislation it’s really hard to put definitive figures on cost.”

Which raises the question of whether Deloitte’s new program will hold up once new legislation is introduced.

It is understood that a Deloitte representative was in attendance at each of the industry roundtables held by the Minister, although those discussions were to be kept confidential.

What Deloitte could use as a reference point instead are the details of requirements laid out by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force. This is the international organisation that developed the global anti-money laundering standards that Australia agreed to adhere to in 2003.

According to Phillips, financial planners thinking of subscribing to the compliance tool need not be concerned about it failing to cover any future legislative developments, claiming “one of the great benefits of AMLcheck is that it’s enormously flexible. As soon as any new legislation comes out we’ll start remodelling”.