The risk money launderers might target New Zealand's banking system because of the wide accessibility and availability of banks was "relatively high", the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said yesterday.
The Reserve Bank yesterday released its sector risk assessment to help registered banks, non-bank deposit-taking institutions and life insurers prepare to meet requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009, which is expected to be in force in 2013.
The Reserve Bank said the rating was "in line with similar assessments for banks globally" and was largely due to factors such as the wide accessibility and availability of banks, the cash-intensive nature of their products and services and the volume of transactions they process.
"The Reserve Bank's assessment rates the banking sector as having a relatively high potential money-laundering risk.
This may mean that money launderers will target the sector for these purposes," the bank said in a statement.
Overall, the non-bank deposit-taking sector is described as having a "medium potential risk" rating, because its products are not generally as cash intensive, while credit unions in the same sector are rated as "low potential", due to their strong domestic customer focus.
The money-laundering risk assessment was to provide guidance to the institutions the Reserve Bank will supervise, and in turn help them undertake their own risk assessments, the bank said.
