Category: Company News

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Managing financial crime risks

From 1 July 2026, Australia’s new anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing (CTF) laws apply to certain legal services. As a result, Oakley
Thompson & Co comes under AUSTRAC regulation and must comply with all
applicable AML/CTF requirements.

Legal services subject to AML/CTF laws

Some legal services carry a higher risk of financial crime or involve the movement of
funds. When we provide these services, the AML/CTF laws require us to take
additional steps to meet our legal obligations. These services typically include:
• assisting with buying or selling property
• handling client money or assets (including through trust accounts)
• setting up or managing companies, trusts, or other structures
• assisting with significant business or commercial transactions.

What this means for our clients

Before we can provide certain legal services, we are required to verify your identity
and complete client due diligence checks. In accordance with the AML/CTF laws we
may need to:
• request additional documentation
• verify identities of clients and key associated people
• verify whether you are a politically exposed person (PEP), as required
under Australian law
• understand business activities, ownership structures and verify the beneficial
ownership of our clients
• confirm the source of funds for certain transactions and clients.

Your privacy is protected

We are committed to minimising disruption to you and your business. Our approach
is to only request information where required.
We collect, use, and store personal information in accordance with applicable
privacy laws. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

Our commitment

Thank you for your cooperation as we implement these new requirements. We
remain committed to providing you a seamless and professional service while
meeting Australia’s evolving regulatory requirements and helping protect our clients,
our firm, and the wider community.

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We are pleased to announce that as of 1 July 2024, Prompt Legal Services and Gladstone Park Conveyancing have merged with Oakley Thompson & Co. This strategic move marks a new chapter in our endeavour to provide exceptional legal services for our clients.

The alignment of core values was seen as critical to the partners of both firms. The merger will benefit the clients of both firms as the core values of excellent service, practical advice with top tier results and true value for clients will continue to be the cornerstones of the merged practice moving forward.

The merged firm will be able to provide clients with the following specialist legal services in corporate & commercial, dispute resolution & litigation, insolvency, property & conveyancing, succession & estate planning, banking & finance, tax & superannuation.

We want to reassure you that this change will not affect your current matters.

Moving forward, you will continue to work with the same dedicated lawyers and conveyancers who have been handling your matters with the utmost attention and expertise.

Our entire approach will remain the same, only with the backing of a larger team and greater resources, strengthening our ability to support you.

With additional offices expanding our presence beyond the Melbourne CBD into Essendon and Gladstone Park, our team will now be available to you wherever it is most convenient.

Our goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible for you, so rest assured, we are here to support you every step of the way. You will notice the addition of the Oakley Thompson & Co logo on our documents and emails, and our digital correspondence will now be sent from @oakleythompson.com email addresses.

Thank you for your continued trust and confidence in Prompt Legal Services and Gladstone Park Conveyancing, now part of the larger Oakley Thompson & Co.

Julian Vagg
Principal Solicitor

Reuben Lipohar
Principal Solicitor

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Today the Victorian Court of Appeal handed down its decision in Cant v Mad Brothers Earthmoving Pty Ltd [2020] VSCA 198 (Beach, McLeish and Hargrave JJA) giving much needed clarification of what constitutes an unfair preference under S 588FA of the Corporations Act 2001.

The Court of Appeal, in dismissing the Liquidator’s appeal, has held it is necessary that a preference be received from the assets of the company and result in a diminution of the assets of the company available to the creditors.

For full details please refer to the Court of Appeal’s decision here.

I would like to congratulate and thank Mad Brothers Earthmoving Pty Ltd, their counsel Mr Stephen Palmer and Mr Lachlan Molesworth, and the Oakley Thompson & Co team members involved in this appeal.

Julian Vagg
Principal

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Due to the speed at which the landscape around us is changing, over the weekend we enacted our business continuity plan. To minimise the risk of contamination, our staff will be working remotely from their homes where possible and, collaborate with colleagues and clients virtually through telephone and video conferencing. We will continue to have a reduced presence in our office, however we request your patience if you have difficulty reaching our team by telephone, especially those who are intermittently working remotely. Currently the most effective way to reach our individual staff members is via email. Our direct emails are our first name initial dot surname at oakley thompson dot com. For exam-ple, Jane Citizen would be j.citizen@oakleythompson.com . As always, please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss any of the above in more detail or if we can assist you or your business in any way.

Julian Vagg, Principal