{"id":"F2018L00277","name":"Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Prescribed Foreign Countries) Regulations 2018","slug":"anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-financing-prescribed-foreign-countries-regulations-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439525,"registerId":"F2018L00277-fast-fetch-1775955518718","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Prescribed Foreign Countries) Regulations 2018","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nAnti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing (Prescribed Foreign Countries) Regulations 2018\n\nI, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 15 March 2018\n\nPeter Cosgrove\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nAngus Taylor\n\nMinister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Prescribed foreign countries\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nAnti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing (Prescribed Foreign Countries) Regulation 2016\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Prescribed Foreign Countries) Regulations 2018.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 17 March 2018\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Prescribed foreign countries\n\n  For the purposes of the definition of prescribed foreign country in section 5 of the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006, each of the following countries is declared to be a prescribed foreign country for the purposes of that Act:\n\n (a) Democratic People’s Republic of Korea;\n\n (b) Iran.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nAnti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing (Prescribed Foreign Countries) Regulation 2016\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the 2016 Prescribed Foreign Countries Regulation (Schedule 1) and expressly declares the DPRK and Iran to be prescribed foreign countries for the purposes of section 5 of the AML/CTF Act (Regulation 5). As a result, the set of countries that trigger the Act's prescribed‑country treatment is altered from the repealed instrument to the list in this 2018 instrument; determining the precise change requires comparing the repealed 2016 instrument to this list."},"complexity_factors":["Single substantive change: Reg 5 simply adds two countries to the definition of \"prescribed foreign country\" (Regulation 5).","Legal dependence on primary statute: the regulation's effect is meaningful only through section 5 of the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Regulation 5), requiring cross‑reference to the Act to determine obligations.","Repeal effect: Schedule 1 repeals the entire 2016 instrument, so practical scope requires comparing instruments (Schedule 1).","Straightforward commencement mechanics: a commencement table sets effect as the day after registration (Regulation 2), minimising transitional complexity.","Low administrative discretion: the instrument lists countries rather than creating new regulatory tests, reducing interpretive burden but shifting compliance to reporting entities under the Act (Regulation 5)."],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation declares the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran to be “prescribed foreign countries” for the purposes of section 5 of the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006. Mechanically, that means dealings connected with those countries are treated under the Act’s framework; the instrument also repeals the 2016 Prescribed Foreign Countries Regulation and commences the day after registration."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulation maintains the exact same scope as its predecessor (the 2016 Regulation), listing the same two countries (North Korea and Iran). It is a direct replacement without expansion of the prescribed country list or alteration of the underlying legislative framework."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short instrument (approximately 1 page)","Only 5 substantive sections, with most being standard machinery provisions (name, commencement, authority, schedules)","Single operative provision (section 5) containing a simple list of two country names","No defined terms beyond standard legislative references","No conditional logic, exceptions, or cross-referencing complexity","Straightforward repeal of previous instrument in Schedule 1"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation updates Australia’s anti‑money laundering rules by designating North Korea and Iran as “prescribed foreign countries,” meaning banks, casinos and other reporting entities must apply enhanced customer due diligence and ongoing monitoring for transactions linked to those jurisdictions. \n\nIt replaces a 2016 instrument and keeps the same two countries on the list, signalling continued heightened controls to guard against money laundering and terrorism financing risks from those jurisdictions."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-financing-prescribed-foreign-countries-regulations-2018","history":"/api/acts/anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-financing-prescribed-foreign-countries-regulations-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-financing-prescribed-foreign-countries-regulations-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-financing-prescribed-foreign-countries-regulations-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-financing-prescribed-foreign-countries-regulations-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/anti-money-laundering-and-counter-terrorism-financing-prescribed-foreign-countries-regulations-2018/documents"}}