In accordance with section 157 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (“Act”), the Associate Minister of Justice granted the following exemption from the Act:

Ministerial Exemption: Twentymans Funeral Services Limited

1. As the Associate Minister of Justice, and pursuant to section 157 of the Act, I exempt Twentymans Funeral Services Limited (“TFSL”) from:

1. Sections 10–71 of the Act
2. In relation to funds held by TFSL on behalf of their existing (78) customers only, which have been paid to TFSL for the purpose of repayment for that customer’s funeral costs.

2. This exemption is subject to the following conditions:

1. TFSL must comply with sections 10–71 of the Act in relation to any new funds received from TFSL’s existing customers:
2. TFSL must comply with sections 10–71 of the Act in relation to any refund or money that is returned to the customer before it is used for its intended purpose, being the payment of that customer’s funeral costs:
3. TSFL must transfer all funds to which this exemption applies as described in paragraphs (a) and (b) above to the trust account held by the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand:
4. TSFL must undertake all obligations under the Act in relation to any customers that have entered into an agreement for prepaid funeral services with TSFL after 1 January 2022; and
5. TFSL must inform the Ministry of Justice of any changes that may affect the exemption within 10 working days from when the change affecting the exemption occurs.

3. I approve the exemption with these conditions because, on balance, I consider TFSL to be a low risk of money laundering or terrorism financing (“ML/TF”), as set out below:

1. TFSL presents a low ML/TF risk as the application is for a limited exemption for its existing customers only and any early repayment of those funds attracts all AML/CFT obligations, including CDD and suspicious activity reporting. TFSL is also required to undertake all AML/CFT obligations with respect to any new customer.
2. The exemption is limited in that it only relates to the monies received and currently held in a trust account for prepaid funerals from 78 customers.
3. The monies received in respect of each of those 78 customers would only be paid out for a customer upon the customer’s death certificate being provided to TFSL; and
4. The conditions proposed requires TFSL to conduct CDD on any new monies received in relation to those 78 customers and also when repaying the monies upon the death of such customer.

4. This exemption comes into force on the day after the date I grant this exemption.

5. This exemption will expire on 19 November 2029.

Any person wishing to provide comment on this notice should contact the Terrorism and Law Enforcement Stewardship team at the Ministry of Justice by emailing amlcft.exemptions@justice.govt.nz.