Enforceable undertaking issued to ABC Accounting Services Limited after continued non-compliance

18 April 2024

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has accepted an enforceable undertaking agreement from ABC Accounting Services Limited (ABC) under section 81 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act).

An enforceable undertaking is an agreement between DIA and a business following a breach of the AML/CFT Act, which if breached could result in legal action in the High Court.

The agreement details that Alex Bob Cijffers, the sole director, shareholder and AML/CFT compliance officer of ABC, and ABC will not carry out certain specified business activities.

ABC’s continued non-compliance with the AML/CFT Act and, in particular, its failure to establish an effective compliance programme led to a DIA investigation and has resulted in this enforceable undertaking.

Mike Stone, Director AML/CFT, DIA said, “Businesses have AML/CFT obligations for a crucial reason: to safeguard our financial and business systems from being exploited from criminal activities like money laundering and terrorism financing. As regulators, it is our role to ensure compliance, so if businesses fail to meet these obligations, we will take appropriate action to address this.”

“We are committed to ensuring that New Zealanders can trust our financial system and are actively working to ensure that all the businesses we monitor are complying with the AML/CFT Act”.

DIA does not assert that Mr Cijffers or ABC were engaging in money laundering or the financing of terrorism.

This is the seventh enforceable undertaking issued since 2013 by the AML/CFT group at DIA.