After a long period of consultation and review, the Federal Government has introduced its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Funding (AML-CTF) Bill into Parliament.

The bill’s final form demands a great deal of co-operation from the financial sector and from specified gambling facilities. In particular, affected organisations need to increase due diligence of the people and entities they deal with, keep a closer watch on certain kinds of transaction and maintain stricter records.

The laws will come into force in stages. Twelve months after the bill is enacted, identification and verification of customers will become mandatory. Industry had originally expected a two-year window to implement these procedures.

Reporting obligations on “suspicious matters” will come into effect after 24 months.

The Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) has welcomed the bill, saying the long consultation period has resulted in a clearer, more targeted piece of legislation.

“IFSA is especially pleased to see that a number of critical issues have been addressed in relation to superannuation and risk-only life insurance products,” Deputy CEO John O’Shaughnessy said.

But Allens Arthur Robinson partners Peter Jones and Anna Lenahan have noted no new rules were released with the bill. It refers only to draft rules released during the consultation period.  “The difficulty is that these are now misaligned with the bill and will need to be significantly augmented and edited,” they said.

Any changes will need to be completed “in good time” – well before the legislation is due to take effect. The bill is expected to be debated during this session of Federal Parliament, probably in late November.