Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009

AML/CFT requirements and compliance - Suspicious activity reports

42: Privileged communication defined

You could also call this:

"What is a privileged conversation with a lawyer?"

Illustration for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009

You can have a privileged communication with a lawyer. This means you can talk to a lawyer without others knowing what you said. It can be a conversation or a written message. You can have a privileged communication with a lawyer when you talk to them about getting legal advice. This also applies when a lawyer talks to another lawyer about your case. It includes information or opinions that are part of getting or giving legal advice. A privileged communication can also be when information is protected by law, such as under section 53, 54, 55, 56, or 57 of the Evidence Act 2006. But, if you use a privileged communication for a dishonest purpose, it is not protected. It is also not protected if it helps someone commit a crime. If a lawyer keeps a record of your financial transactions, it may not be a privileged communication, as explained in section 6 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. When the law talks about a lawyer, it also means a law firm where the lawyer works.

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This page was last updated on 4 December 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2140894.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal help

41: Nature of suspicious activity report, or

"What to include in a suspicious activity report"

43: Auditors may report suspicious activities, or

"Auditors can report suspicious activities to help stop money laundering and crime."

Part 2AML/CFT requirements and compliance
Suspicious activity reports

42Privileged communication defined

A communication is a privileged communication if—
it is a confidential communication (oral or written) (including any information or opinion)—
1. that passes between—
  1. a lawyer and another lawyer in their professional capacity; or
  2. a lawyer in his or her professional capacity and his or her client; or
  3. any person described in subsubparagraph (A) or (B) and the agent of the other person described in that subsubparagraph (or between the agents of both the persons described) either directly or indirectly; and
2. that is made or brought into existence for the purpose of obtaining or giving legal advice or assistance; or
it is a communication (including any information or opinion) that—
1. is subject to the general law governing legal professional privilege; or
2. is specified in section 53, 54, 55, 56, or 57 of the Evidence Act 2006.

However, a communication is not a privileged communication—
if there is a prima facie case that the communication or information is made or received, or compiled or prepared,—
1. for a dishonest purpose; or
2. to enable or aid the commission of an offence; or
if, where the information wholly or partly consists of, or relates to, the receipts, payments, income, expenditure, or financial transactions of any specified person, it is contained in (or comprises the whole or a part of) any book, account, statement, or other record prepared or kept by the lawyer in connection with a trust account of the lawyer within the meaning of section 6 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006.

For the purposes of this section, references to a lawyer include a firm in which the lawyer is a partner or is held out to be a partner.

Notes

Section 42: replaced, on 11 August 2017, by section 25 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 35).