Episode 21 - Whistleblower, Modern Slavery, AML/CTF, ABAC and AFSL's with Kathryn Morgan

Shownotes
In this episode of YS Up Governance and Boards Podcast, 3YS Owls Governance Consultants, Ainslie Cunningham and Deb Anderson interview Kathryn Morgan. Kathryn is a Senior Associate (Financial Services) at McCullough Robertson Lawyers. We talk to Kathryn about the enhanced whistleblower protections, modern slavery, AML/CTF, ABac and other challenges for financial services providers, mining and engineering firms, professional services firms and educational institutions.

"It [Modern Slavery Act) obviously came into effect in 2019, so it's not necessarily new law now, but the first set of reporting requirements are now coming up. They have all been pushed back by three months due to COVID like most regulators...

I think it's important to note that, It's not saying that you have to look at your supply chains and be absolutely certain that there is no modern slavery in your supply chains because quite frankly, that is impossible. Anyone that has a smartphone has benefited in some way, shape, or form, from modern slavery, unfortunately. But what it is about doing is, trying to create as much transparency as possible, given the nature of your business, given the types of goods and services that you're providing, and where possible, trying to remove any obvious instances of modern slavery. So, it really needs to be looked at on a case by case basis.

So if, for example, you're manufacturing technology equipment and you're getting a lot of raw materials from a country that's a vulnerable jurisdiction, the kinds of checks, and balances and the due diligence that you're going to put in place for those suppliers is going to be very different for a small accounting business that employs five people and might occasionally buy some merchandise from China. Both require due diligence, and both would require checks. And obviously, the latter businesses are unlikely to be captured by the mandatory criteria and having to report, but it's the framework that any business can and probably should implement."
- Kathryn Morgan

Summary of episode
· Whistleblower protection laws and policies
· DFAT Consolidated list
· Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
· Modern Slavery Act 2018
· Anti-Slavery Australia
· Implementation of the Hayne Financial Services Royal Commission Recommendations
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