House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Home Affairs, the Honourable Bob Debus MP)

General outline & financial impact statement

General Outline

The Bill contains amendments to the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 (FTR Act). The amendments will establish transitional provisions to:

1)

authorise certain cash dealers to continue reporting suspicious transactions, international funds transfer instructions and significant cash transactions to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) under the FTR Act until they become compliant with new counter-part provisions under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act), up until the end of 11 March 2010

2)

authorise solicitors, solicitor corporations and partnerships of solicitors to continue to provide AUSTRAC with cash transaction reports under the FTR Act until they become compliant with new counter-part provisions under the AML/CTF Act, up until the end of 11 March 2010, and

3)

authorise certain cash dealers to enter transactions into their exemption register up until the end of 11 March 2010.

Financial impact statement

The amendments in this Bill have no financial impact on Government revenue.