Officials are telling financial service businesses to tighten up customer identification processes and look out for suspicious financial transactions.
The Financial Markets Authority, Department of Internal Affairs, and the police financial intelligence unit are running a series of seminars to help business start preparing for a new anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism law coming into effect in June 2013.
FMA chief executive Sean Hughes said the seminars would introduce businesses and organisations covered by the new law to their new obligations, and to the risk assessment and compliance programmes they should be developing.
The introduction of a similar regime in Australia showed that it took time to develop the policies, training and personnel needed to meet requirements, Mr Hughes said.
"Organisations need to get on with this right away.''
