A review of Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime has recommended that the Government take complexity out of the law and streamline compliance for low-risk regulated entities.At the same time it has called for an extension of the law's coverage to deal more effectively with terrorism financing threats, and for the regulator Austrac to be given greater enforcement powers.The Statutory Review of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act was released by the Minister for Justice Michael Keenan on Friday, containing 84 recommendations.A central finding is that the Act and its rules are too complex."This complexity generates uncertainty, impeding industry's ability to understand and comply with its obligations," the review said.It recommended that the Act and rules should be simplified and become more principles-based. One area where this could be done was in the management of customer due diligence.It also recommended that the AML/CTF regulator Austrac give regulated entities more help understanding their obligations. "Industry requires more assistance to understand and comply with its obligations. This is particularly the case with smaller regulated entities, which struggle to identify and understand their risks," it said.Improvements to the "readability" of the rules would also help regulated entities deal with their obligations.Industry submissions to the review argued that regulatory requirements and reporting obligations were too onerous and should be streamlined. The review recommended that future regulatory development should be done in consultation with industry.Areas where changes could be made include the current requirement that two entities involved in one transaction must both submit transaction reports, and a move to allow compliance programs to be developed at a group level rather than at the level of individual entities.The review said there were opportunities to provide exemptions or simplified obligations for entities that pose a low risk and it recommended that the regulatory regime make better use of the risk-based approach to provide regulatory relief.At the same time, the review pointed out that the international community was calling for AML/CTF regimes to be strengthened to deal with increased threats from terrorist organisations.It recommended that Australia's regime should be extended to cover other services that pose ML/TF risk. These might include new payment types (such as digital currencies) and professional services provided by lawyers, accountants and real estate agents.It called for regulation of remitters to be strengthened and for more comprehensive reporting of cross-border movements of cash and bearer negotiable instruments worth A$10,000 or more.And it said enforcement needed to be strengthened to encourage a culture of compliance. Austrac should be given greater scope to direct remedial action and its use of infringement notices should be expanded.