If you’re a dealer in precious metals, stones and products, and provide no other designated services (such as offering loans or selling bullion), use this page to check if you have anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) obligations. This will help you decide if you need an AML/CTF program. If you’re a jeweller, you can create this from the jeweller program starter kit.

On this page

• Overview of regulation
• If you don't accept physical currency and/or virtual assets
• If you accept physical currency and/or virtual assets of less than $10,000 per transaction
• If you accept physical currency and/or virtual assets but only deal with limited kinds of customers
• If you accept physical currency and/or virtual assets and deal with a wider range of customers
• If you provide other designated services
• Related pages

Overview of regulation

The purchase or sale of precious metals, stones or products is regulated if it involves $10,000 or more in physical currency and/or virtual assets. This applies even if payments are split over several transactions that each individually fall under $10,000, provided these transactions are linked or appear to be linked.

Throughout this guidance, we call these payments ‘regulated transactions’.

Whether you provide regulated transactions depends on what payment methods you accept or use. You can avoid regulation entirely by making a business decision not to accept certain payment methods.

You can also make compliance easier by limiting the kinds of customers you provide these services to.

If you don't accept physical currency and/or virtual assets

If you don't accept physical currency or virtual assets (of any amount), you’re not regulated. This means you don't have any AML/CTF obligations for these services and you don’t need to create an AML/CTF program for your business.

You could avoid regulation by accepting payment for precious metals, stones or products through alternative methods, such as a bank transfer.

If you accept physical currency and/or virtual assets of less than $10,000 per transaction

You will provide a regulated transaction if all of the following apply:

• a customer makes one or more transactions in physical currency and/or virtual assets for precious metals, stones and/or products
• transactions are linked or appear to be linked
• these transactions add up to $10,000 or more.

This means that, if you do accept physical currency or virtual assets below the $10,000 threshold, you must keep an eye out for transactions that are linked or appear to be linked if you want to avoid regulation.

Transactions may be linked if a customer requests multiple transactions for a single purchase, such as buying a quantity of precious metals over 2 separate transactions rather than simply buying the quantity in a single transaction.

Learn more about transactions that are linked or appear to be linked.

If you provide a regulated transaction and don't have an AML/CTF program, you’ll be in breach of many of your AML/CTF obligations and could face serious penalties.

Avoid breaching your obligations

We recommend that you have clear and strict policies in your business, that either: 

• set out that you either don't accept physical currency and/or virtual assets
• limit transactions involving these to less than $10,000 per transaction.

We also recommend you have processes in place to identify multiple transactions using physical currency and/or virtual assets that add up to $10,000 or more. These processes will ensure you comply with your obligations.

If you accept physical currency and/or virtual assets but only deal with limited kinds of customers

If you do accept regulated transactions, you can make it easier to comply with your AML/CTF obligations by limiting the kinds of customers you accept them from.

We’ve worked with the jewellery industry to develop a streamlined process for individuals using physical currency, who are low or medium money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risk. We refer to these as ML/TF risks.

Under this model, the use of physical currency is referred to the store owner/manager. The manager determines if the transaction is regulated and follows a streamlined compliance process for the transaction.

Learn more by downloading the process document for jewellers (Word, 926 KB) and reading the following processes:

• determine if a transaction is regulated
• streamlined customer due diligence for low or medium risk individual customers (using physical currency).

If you accept physical currency and/or virtual assets and deal with a wider range of customers

You’ll need an AML/CTF program with more substantial processes, procedures, systems and controls to manage your ML/TF risks if you do any of the following:

• accept physical currency and/or virtual assets in the purchase or sale of precious metals, stones or products
• don't limit the amounts of these payment methods
• provide these services to a wider range of customers.

Learn more about the AML/CTF program starter kit for jewellers.

If you provide other designated services

If you’re a business that offers a range of different services, you should check if any other services you offer are regulated by us. If you provide any other designated services, you must comply with AML/CTF obligations related to those services, even if your sale or purchase of precious metals, stones or products isn't regulated.

You should also check if you need to enrol or register.

Related pages

• Jeweller program starter kit: Getting started
• Jeweller program starter kit: Document library