In accordance with section 157(6)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (“Act”), the Associate Minister of Justice hereby gives notice that he has granted the following exemption from the Act:

Ministerial Exemption: The Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington, a corporation sole pursuant to the Roman Catholic Bishops Empowering Act 1997 (Archbishop), also referred to as the Archdiocese of Wellington (ADW).

1. As the Associate Minister of Justice, and pursuant to section 157 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (“Act”), I exempt the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington, a corporation sole pursuant to the Roman Catholic Bishops Empowering Act 1997, also referred to as the Archdiocese of Wellington (ADW), from all provisions of the Act.
2. For the avoidance of doubt, the exemption only applies to services provided by ADW via the Catholic Development Fund (CDF) to parishes, Churches, schools, chaplaincies, religious orders and other entities under the common control of ADW (within the definition of clause 48 of Schedule 1 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013) and within the Diocese of Wellington (“Church entities”).
3. The exemption is made subject to the following conditions:
1. the CDF can only accept deposits from Church entities;
2. ADW remains a registered charity pursuant to the Charities Act 2005; and
3. ADW remains a corporation sole pursuant to the Roman Catholic Bishops Empowering Act 1997.
4. The exemption has been made for the following reasons:
1. there is a low risk of money laundering and terrorist financing through ADW. This is because ADW, through the CDF, only manages funds for the restricted purpose of providing pastoral, charitable, and religious education services to parishioners and school students;
2. the ADW only conducts transactions with other Church entities within the Diocese. When entities provide services for a related entity (which is effectively part of itself), there is low money laundering and financing of terrorism risk;
3. the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington cannot rely on Regulation 16 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Exemptions) Regulations 2011 because the Church entities are not all bodies corporate and therefore not related within the meaning of section 12(2) of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 as required by Regulation 16;
4. ADW only operates in New Zealand and does not conduct transactions or activities in overseas regions, which exposes it to money laundering and terrorist activity;
5. the ADW, through the CDF, generates income from the earnings of its reserves, any grants received, and through donations and bequests. Donations and grants cannot be returned to their original donors, unless they are subject to restrictions. The ADW no longer accepts any deposits from the public; and
6. due to the low money laundering and terrorism financing risk associated with the ADW and the significant compliance costs to ADW that would arise from not granting this exemption, I consider that any benefits of requiring compliance with the Act are not justified by the associated costs.
5. This exemption comes into force on the day after the date I grant this exemption.
6. This exemption will expire on 30 June 2020.

Any person wishing to provide comment on this notice should contact the Criminal Law Team at the Ministry of Justice by emailing international.crime@justice.govt.nz.