EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 332

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs

	Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988

	Financial Transaction Reports Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1)

Section 43 of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 (‘the Act’) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

The Financial Transaction Reports Regulations 1990 (‘the Principal Regulations’) set out various matters necessary to give effect to the Act.

The Act specifies no conditions that need to be met before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

The purpose of the proposed Regulations is twofold.  First, the proposed Regulations carves out from the definition of ‘international funds transfer instruction’ (‘IFTI’) in subsection 3(1) of the Act, instructions that are transmitted into or out of Australia by a corporate treasurer, for the purposes of providing or assisting to provide financial management services to a related body corporate.  In effect, the proposed Regulations will mean that such bodies corporate will be exempt from Division 3A (which was inserted into the Anti-Terrorism (No.2) Act 2005 (‘the AT Act’) and varied by the Financial Transaction Reports Amendment Act 2006) and Division 3 of the Act.  Division 3A concerns customer information to be included in IFTIs and Division 3 concerns the reporting of IFTIs to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (‘AUSTRAC’).

Secondly, under subsection 3(1) of the Act, ‘prescribed particulars’ are defined to mean particulars prescribed by the Regulations made for the purposes of sections 24E and 24F of the Act.  Schedule 9 of the AT Act inserted, amongst other things, a new Part IIIB – Register of Providers of Remittance Services into the Act.  Sections 24E and 24F provide that cash dealers (other than financial institutions and real estate agents) who provide remittance services will be required to be registered and must provide certain information (ie the names and ‘prescribed particulars’ of those cash dealers) to the AUSTRAC CEO, which will be placed on a Register maintained by the CEO.  The proposed Regulations define what the ‘prescribed particulars’ are for the purposes of sections 24E and 24F and therefore detail what those cash dealers must provide.

The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Consultation is not necessary for this legislative instrument as this instrument is of a minor or machinery nature and does not substantially alter existing arrangements.  It has no direct or substantial indirect effect on business.

The Regulations commence on the day after they are registered.

		Authority: Section 43 of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988