Transcription
I'm on my way to court, so I can't sit down and do this properly with you. But everything is about to change at the end of the month, and you need to know this. So, I'm bringing you with me. And this is not some kind of boring end of financial year tax time compliance type video.
This is about the people you trust, the people you should be able to trust. Dealing with your life, some of the most important things that you have, money, relationships, legal advice, real estate agents, accountants, people who deal in precious stones and metals, because come July, they're no longer just going to be working for you. In fact, if they notice anything suspicious, they're going to be required to report it to the government, and they're not allowed to tell you. And there's a real question as to whether or not this fundamentally changes the relationship between lawyers and their clients forever. And as a lawyer, I can tell you it's very concerning because there's a real question as to whether or not everything you tell a lawyer is going to be privileged or if this continues, that privilege starts to disappear. I can almost guarantee that you don't have the time to go through these documents with a fine tooth comb and figure out how they're going to affect these relationships. So, before that line gets crossed, before July comes, this is what you need to know.
So, let's start with when this kicks off, because it kicks off on the 1st of July, 2026. That's not far away. And while everybody's being distracted by the budget and the changes to tax and incentives and thresholds, this is almost largely being ignored in the mainstream media. And part of the reason I think this is probably not hit the news properly is it doesn't sound like it's going to affect you. That's the brilliance of it. Cuz what this is is tunch two of the anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing regime which if you just read that you would never think it applies to you but it goes a fair bit further. We're talking about lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, conveyances, brokers. The important thing is these are not fringe industries. These are these are professions where people need that degree of trust. They need to know that if they tell this person something, they're not just going to turn around, tell the government, tell OCR, and not be able to warn you that you are now under investigation. The people you trust with your most private affairs are now built in. They're wired into the reporting system.
So, the mechanism is something called a suspicious matter report. And that report goes to OSRA. And it's not about believing that somebody's committed a crime or that they're about to commit a crime. The threshold is just suspicion. If things don't add up, and ordinarily before this regime, they could probably ask you about it. But the issue is that now if they're even suspicious based on a lack of information that could very well trigger an obligation to send that report to OSRA. And suspicion can come from simple innocent things. It can come from things being rushed. It can come from things being recorded badly or not properly looked after in terms of records. And even if you trust your lawyer, which I certainly hope you do, or your accountant, I can tell you that when people are running a business, when they have these professional obligations, and when the risk of not reporting something means that they could lose their livelihood, they're going to report it.
The most concerning part is that once they decide or are concerned that there's there's some sort of suspicious activity going on, they file the report. That's it. They can't tell you. They're not allowed to under penalty. It's something called the tipping off rule, which in the simplest way to explain means that the person reporting you can't advise you. They can't let you know that you might be under investigation. So, in many ways, it almost prevents your lawyer or your accountant from being able to help you get ahead of a badly reported or a a missed document. So to put it into context, you could be sitting down for a conference with your lawyer or accountant and at the end of it they can shake your hand, say it was good to see you, see you out the door, and that's the end of it. You won't get a warning. You won't get a letter. You may never know. And it might not just be that one professional. It might be both. It might be more if you have a mortgage broker as well or somebody who looks after your real estate.
So, let's get back to the broad justification for this. The official line is that this closes the gap for criminal organizations and how they're able to support themselves. And in many ways, almost as always, that's true. It it does because the criminals that are making a lot of money do hire lawyers. They do hire accountants and they try to make it as legit as possible. They use company structures and trusts. So, it's kind of like a drag net because it catches everything. But that's the problem. Catches everything. And that means you and me and anyone else who's watching this. Nobody has to be corrupt. Nobody has to be malicious. This is the system working exactly as it's designed to. And that's why it's so important to know how the system actually works and what you can do about it or at least be aware of how it works and what's happening because almost always this is how power expands. It doesn't do it dramatically or with some big announcement or with boots on the ground. It does it quietly, slowly, and always with paperwork.
So, is there anything that any of us can do about this? I would say take advantage of the fact that hasn't kicked in yet. Take advantage of the fact that there is still a little bit of time where you can get advice as to whether or not anything looks suspicious and what you can do to remove that suspicion. Don't panic. Don't start hiding things. Just understand the system that you are walking into at the end of this month because it's not the same one as we have now. There has been a lot of change over the last few months and it's moved very quickly this year. This is the exact time that we should all be paying a lot more attention to these things and get information that can help you come to your own decisions. Make up your own mind. I'm not saying this to make you panic. I'm not telling you about this to make you fear the worst case scenario. Telling you this because it matters. Knowing this matters.
If there are things that I haven't mentioned, if there are changes that I haven't seen, make sure you subscribe and let me know. The reason I say to subscribe isn't just because it helps grow the channel, but it helps me actually see the the comments. It helps me actually see the questions and it helps me be useful. It helps me give you the information that is valuable to you because I guarantee if it's valuable to you, it's valuable to other people. So, thank you for your time. Thank you for your attention and get involved. I'll see you in the next one.