The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has released its third discussion paper on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF).
The paper is part of the association’s ‘best practice’ series and examines the obligations of Australian superannuation funds. ASFA chief executive Pauline Vamos said the papers aim to inform trustees “what their obligations are and how to implement them”.
In producing these papers, Vamos said ASFA is trying to “reduce costs of implementation across the industry, and get consistency across the industry”.
Vamos said ASFA is also working to “give the message to the regulator that the superannuation industry takes AML seriously and we’re on top of our game”.
One of the key issues addressed in the paper is the need for trustees to understand their customers and their dealings with the fund – what Vamos refers to as customer due diligence.
Super fund trustees must “understand the customer, understand their dealings with you and then assess what the risk is”. For example, “have we got an employer or employee here who is likely to be using the fund as a clearing house for illegal monies?”, Vamos said.
“What we’ve been saying for quite some time is that when it comes to providing services to members you need to know them anyway,” Vamos said.
The introduction of AML/CTF obligations has now driven that focus, Vamos said.
