Anti-Money Laundering

Required documents

The basic information we need is:

  • Your full name

  • Your date of birth

  • Your current residential address

We are required to confirm that these details are correct, and need the following documents to help us do so:

For proof of identity:

Either:

  • Your passport

OR

  • Driver’s Licence
    plus one of the following:

    • Original Birth Certificate

    • Credit or debit card that contains your name and signature

    • Original bank account statement (issued within the last twelve months)

    • Original statement issued by a Government agency (issued within the last twelve months)

    • Super Gold Card

For proof of address:
An original of one of the following (which must have been issued within the previous three months):

  • Utility bill (e.g. phone or electricity)

  • Rates bill

  • Bank account statement

  • Insurance premium notice

  • Statement issued by a Government agency

The documents you provide must be certified copies. If you bring in the original documents, we will prepare certified copies and you can keep the originals.

Certification outside of our offices

If you are unable to have copies of your documents certified at our offices, it is possible to have them certified elsewhere. Certification is best carried out by another Lawyer or a Justice of the Peace, however it can also be carried out by a member of the Police, a registered medical Doctor or a registered Teacher (in all cases registered or practicing in New Zealand). The certifier must not be:-

  • related to you;

  • your spouse or partner;

  • living with you at the same address; or

  • involved in the same transaction.

The certifier must sight your original identity/proof of address documents and copies of those documents, and then make a statement on the copies to the effect that the documents provided are a true copy and represent your identity. Certification must include the name and signature of the certifier, the date of certification (which must be in the three months preceding our engagement) and the certifier’s capacity as a New Zealand Lawyer, Justice of the Peace, member of the Police, registered medical Doctor or registered Teacher. In most cases there is no charge for having your documents certified. 

The original certified copies of the documents then need to be provided to us by courier or post. It is helpful if scanned copies are emailed to us before the originals are sent. 

For further information on having your documents certified outside of our offices or for alternative certification options (including certification overseas) please contact us. 

The nature and purpose of work

We are also required to ask you for full details of the nature and purpose of the work you are requesting us to complete on your behalf. To meet legal requirements, this will extend to obtaining information regarding where the source of funds for a transaction has come from.

Additional requirements for trust or company matters

Should you be instructing us in relation to trust or company matters, then there is additional information that we are required to obtain, including:

For trusts:

  • Original Trust Deed

  • Trustees of the trust

  • Beneficiaries of the trust

For companies:

  • Full legal name of company

  • Details of Directors

  • Details of Shareholders