The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Levy) Regulations 2026 have been approved. The levy is part of the Government’s changes to the funding model of New Zealand’s AML/CFT system.
Designated non-financial businesses and professions will be required to contribute 5.5% towards the funding of the system. The amount payable by a reporting entity depends on the sector it operates in.
Levies for law firms and trust and company service providers are set out in Schedule 2 of the Regulations. These levies are based on the number of customers for whom customer due diligence is undertaken. Information for lawyers, including on performing customer due diligence, is available on the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) website.
DIA will collect the AML/CFT levy annually from 1 July 2027. Further information about how the levy will be collected, including invoicing, payment arrangements and key dates, will be provided by DIA ahead of the first levy collection.
In 2025 and 2026, we made submissions on the proposed design of the levy, noting there are compelling reasons for the legal sector to be excluded from the levy, and expressing serious concerns that insufficient work has been done to justify and design the levy.