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When a sole trader moves to a Pty Ltd, must the new company be added separately?

Yes, a Pty Ltd is a new legal entity with its own ACN and ABN; AUSTRAC enrolment must be updated and easyAML must reflect the new entity.

A Pty Ltd is a new legal entity with its own ACN, ABN - legally distinct from the sole trader who previously operated the business. AML/CTF obligations attach to the entity providing the designated service, so when that entity changes, the setup in easyAML needs to follow.

What changes on the regulatory side

  • An update to your AUSTRAC enrolment is required. Login into AUSTRAC Online. Select Business, then Business profile. Then select Update Enrolment detail
  • Update your details in easyAML which will require the generation of a new Risk Assessment and AML/CTF Program. In most cases the substantive content carries across (same services, same customer base, same risk profile), but the Program is formally adopted as the Pty Ltd's own document rather than inherited.
  • The Compliance Officer is confirmed/appointed under the new entity, and ongoing staff training records reflect the new entity going forward.

What this looks like:

  • Original sole trader has a KYC profile (because they're an individual) and may have been verified for their own role in transactions.
  • New Pty Ltd is registered - a KYB exists for the company structure but the company isn't yet doing designated-service activity in its own name.
  • Once the Pty Ltd starts trading (acquires customers, opens bank accounts, signs contracts in the company name), the company itself becomes the subject of designated service activity and a KYB process is appropriate at that point.

The trigger isn't the legal registration of the company; it's the operational use of the company in designated service activity. This avoids unnecessary KYB work for entities that exist on paper but aren't yet trading.

For the original sole-trader-individual's KYC, that remains valid - they're still the same individual whose identity has been verified; their role has just changed from sole trader to director and/or shareholder of a new Pty Ltd.

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