Royals In New Zealand & Anti Money Regulations - Snippets
Royals in NZ
There has been no shortage of news about the Royal Family recently, particularly given Harry and Meghan’s visit to NZ. Yet you may not know that in 1970 NZ was the location of the very first “royal walkabouts”, designed to enable the Queen to meet the public.
The Queen has actually visited NZ ten times during her lifetime, so NZ could arguably be a favourite destination of the family! Despite their obvious good taste in countries, some of the guidelines and traditions followed by the Royals are quite unusual. For example, the Royals may happily pose for ‘selfies’, but will never give an autograph due to the risk of potential forgery.
Strict heed is given to royal hierarchy, to the extent that Prince Philip commonly walks two steps behind the Queen to represent their rankings in the royal family. It’s also frowned upon for ‘lower’ members of the family to go to bed before the Queen.
There are some equally unusual eating habits – the Queen has a ‘no garlic’ rule, as well as a family ban on shellfish. Also at meal times, guests are not allowed to continue eating after the Queen has finished. The Royal trips to NZ seem set to continue, so it may be worth keeping these rules in mind in case you meet any of the Royals on their future visits!
Anti-Money laundering regulations
Since 2013, financial institutions, such as banks, have had to comply with AntiMoney Laundering regulations. These rules save now been extended to other businesses providing financial services, such as real estate agents, accountants and lawyers.
The regulations are designed to prevent criminals laundering money through
legitimate New Zealand businesses and
apply in a number of circumstances,
predominantly where financial transactions
are involved.
The rules require affected businesses
to formally identify their customers and
understand the true source of funds for
every individual they interact with, before
they can undertake certain work. This is
likely to incur additional costs for affected
businesses, but there is no way around it,
and the fines for non-compliance outweigh
the cost.
The extension of these regulations seek to
ensure New Zealand continues to protect
and enhance its reputation as a good place
to do business and is meeting international
standards. However, they may slow
down the time it takes to get professional
assistance.