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Can a firm rely on the buyer's conveyancer to do CDD on the purchaser?

Yes with conditions, under sections 37A and 38 of the Act and Rule 6-33; a written CDD arrangement is required and the relying firm remains the reporting entity.

AUSTRAC permits this kind of arrangement under sections 37A and 38 of the Act, and the property-specific Rule 6-33 lets you delay your own verification while the conveyancer completes theirs.

What needs to be in place before you can rely:

  1. A written CDD arrangement between you and the conveyancer (a "reliance agreement"). It must outline each party's responsibilities and let you obtain the KYC information and verification data either immediately, on request without delay, or - under the 2026 amendment - within 28 days of contract exchange (or 3 business days before settlement, whichever is earlier).
  2. Your own ML/TF risk assessment of the customer, completed before you start providing the service. You can't simply adopt the conveyancer's view of risk.
  3. Reasonable grounds to believe the conveyancer has appropriate AML/CTF systems and controls. This usually means you've assessed them at least once and review the arrangement regularly.
  4. Approval of the arrangement by your governing body or a senior managing official, and documented.

What this doesn't change:

  • You remain the reporting entity. If the conveyancer doesn't deliver the KYC data, the obligation defaults back to you. Submit an SMR if you can't comply.
  • You still complete your own enhanced CDD if the customer is medium- or high-risk - reliance covers identity verification, not your risk-based decisions.

AUSTRAC sources:

easyAML provides a Special Condition template for adding reliance terms to the Service Agreement, and supports the data exchange in-platform when both firms use easyAML.

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