An external independent audit service will identify the major issues concerning Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act and relevant procedures and controls, and uncover any short-comings. An audit provides an objective, impartial perspective and an unbiased understanding of a company’s AML/CFT strategy.

Here are five reasons your company might choose an AML/CFT Audit:

1. Compliance:

Regular AML audits help ensure that a company is compliant with relevant AML regulations and laws, including the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act.

2. Risk assessment:

AML audits help assess and evaluate the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing within a company. This allows the company to identify and address any vulnerabilities in its AML controls and procedures.

3. Improved processes:

Regular AML audits can lead to improvements in a company’s AML processes and controls, making them more effective in detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.

4. Increased confidence:

AML audits can help build trust and confidence with stakeholders, such as regulators and customers, by demonstrating a commitment not just to compliance, but to preventing criminal activity, in all its various forms.

5. Detection of potential issues:

Regular AML audits detect potential issues early, allowing a company to take corrective action before these become more serious problems.

We provide AML/CFT audits to real estate agencies, law firms, accounting practices and financial services providers.

BVO Audit Approach

Audits are performed in accordance with the required regulations (specifically: SAE 3100 Assurance Engagements on Compliance underpinned by ISAE (NZ) 3000 issued by the XRB).

Our approach includes the following areas of good practice, providing practical recommendations for improvement where needed:

• Governance procedures, including the appointment of AML/CFT compliance officer, maintenance of policies, record keeping and data retention processes.
• Risk Assessment review, including our review and assessment of the entity’s identified risks, the complexity of the entity’s business and risk response procedures.
• Employee-related procedures, such as staff onboarding and training procedures.
• Customer Due Diligence, including our assessment of your customer portfolio risk matrix, CDD and EDD procedures assessment on a sample basis, PEPs identification (if any), and annual reporting.
• Monitoring, including transaction monitoring assessment on a sample basis, ongoing CDD procedures and other relevant internal controls assessment.
• Reporting, such as preparing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), Prescribed Transaction Reports (PTRs) and Suspicious Property Reports (SPRs) (if any).

At BVO Audit, we look forward to helping clients with relevant AML/CFT audits. We have proven expertise to assist you to comply with the legislations/guidelines and to provide you with valuable recommendations for how you can improve your AML/CFT procedures. We welcome your call to talk about the specific needs of your organisation.