If you’re in the legal, accounting or real estate space in Australia, chances are you’ve already heard the phrase “AML/CTF Tranche 2” floating around. And if you haven’t, no doubt you soon will. The Tranche 2 reforms are coming into effect in July 2026, and they’ll bring thousands of businesses under the same anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws that banks, casinos and gaming entities have been following for years.
For many professional service businesses, like conveyancers, lawyers, accountants, tax agents and real estate agents, this will be a huge change. Come 1 July 2026, you’ll need to have policies, programs and checks in place to ensure your clients aren’t involved in money laundering or terrorism financing.
At Scantek, we have worked with many Tranche 1 entities for some time. But what we noticed is that these businesses are usually very large and, as such, have a very large budget and workforce at their disposal to manage their AML obligations. As a result, most current AML solutions are designed for the big end of town. They’re built for banks with compliance teams, budgets, and IT departments, not for busy small business owners who are already stretched thin.
That’s where easyAML comes in.
What Tranche 2 means for small & medium businesses
Up until now, AML/CTF laws have mostly focused on Tranche 1 entities like banks, gaming businesses, and large remittance providers. These are high-risk sectors with dedicated compliance teams to manage the workload.
Tranche 2 is different. It expands AML/CTF obligations to a whole new group of professionals who don’t have that infrastructure or resources available to them. From July 2026, thousands of small to medium businesses will need to:
- Create and maintain an AML/CTF program tailored to their business
- Verify their clients’ identities (known as Customer Due Diligence, or ‘CDD’)
- Check if clients are politically exposed persons (PEPs) or on sanctions lists
- Identify the real people behind companies and trusts (known as Ultimate Beneficial Owners, or UBOs)
- Conduct ongoing monitoring of their clients and their transactions
- Train their staff and ensure they’re aware of how to identify red flags
- Report suspicious matters to AUSTRAC, and lodge an annual compliance report
These aren’t simple, one-off tasks. They’re ongoing obligations, and the penalties for getting them wrong are significant.
The SME challenge
If you’re a conveyancer, real estate agent, accountant, lawyer, or tax agent, your day is already full. Settlements to chase. Clients to meet. Contracts to prepare. Numbers to crunch. The thought of layering an entirely new compliance regime on top of that is overwhelming.
Unlike a bank, you don’t have a compliance officer whose only job is to manage AML risk. And as the business owner, you also don’t have hours each week to research, monitor, and manage compliance yourself.
We identified that a different kind of AML solution was needed for you. One that works for small and medium businesses, not against them.
Enter easyAML: powered by Scantek
When we looked at the problem, we realised something important. As one of Australia’s leading Verification of Identity (VOI) providers, Scantek was already trusted by thousands of businesses to confirm their clients’ identities safely, securely, and compliantly.
But VOI is just one piece of the AML puzzle. Tranche 2 requires much more than just a snapshot of who your client is. Customer Due Diligence requires you to go deeper. You need to know your customer, know their business, identify UBOs, and continuously monitor risk.
That’s why we created easyAML: a new brand powered by Scantek, designed specifically to meet the needs of Tranche 2 businesses.
Built on trusted technology
At its heart, easyAML leverages Scantek’s ISO27001-certified VOI technology. This is the same secure, Australian-hosted platform that so many of you already use and trust. But we’ve extended it to cover every step of AML/CTF compliance, including:
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- Tailored AML/CTF Compliance Program: Your program is tailored to your unique business, and includes a comprehensive risk assessment.
- KYC (Know Your Customer): Going beyond ID checks to truly verify who your clients are.
- KYB (Know Your Business): Confirming the legitimacy of companies, trusts, and other entities in both Australia and overseas.
- UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) identification: Uncovering the real people behind corporate and trust structures.
- Sanctions and PEPs screening: Checking against global watchlists to ensure you’re not dealing with high-risk individuals or entities.
- Ongoing monitoring: Not just a one-off check, but continuous oversight to capture changes in client risk profiles.
- Ongoing staff training: Keeping your team up-to-date, and aware of the red flags to look out for
- Audit-ready reporting: Everything you need to ensure AUSTRAC compliance.
The result? A complete, end-to-end compliance solution intentionally designed for SMEs.
Uncomplicating compliance
We know the biggest fear for many Tranche 2 businesses is that AML compliance will become a time-consuming, expensive and complicated burden. That’s why easyAML is designed to be as simple as possible.
No need to build your own compliance program from scratch.
No need to manually chase documents, cross-check sanctions lists, or worry about missing updates.
No need to spend nights and weekends trying to interpret AUSTRAC rules.
Instead, you’ll have a platform that guides you step by step, with workflows designed for the way your business actually operates.
And because easyAML is powered by Scantek, you’ll also have the support of a team who already understands your world. Many of the same faces you know and trust at Scantek are now part of the easyAML team. That means when you pick up the phone or log in to the platform, you’ll be dealing with people who get it, and who genuinely want to make your compliance obligations easier.
Just like we do at Scantek, at easyAML, we don’t just see ourselves as a software provider. We’re your compliance partner.
We’ll keep across regulatory changes so you don’t have to.
We’ll adapt the platform as AUSTRAC guidance evolves.
We’ll provide resources, education, and support so you feel confident, not confused.
The easyAML mission is simple: to uncomplicate AML/CTF compliance for Tranche 2 businesses.
What this means for you
If you’re in one of the professions impacted by Tranche 2 (conveyancing, legal, accounting, tax, or real estate) here’s what easyAML means for you:
- Peace of mind that your compliance obligations are being met.
- Time saved to focus on running your business, not chasing documents.
- Security and trust knowing your client data is handled in Australia, to the highest standards.
- Confidence that you won’t be caught out by AUSTRAC’s increasing enforcement actions.
easyAML has been created to help you protect your business, your reputation, and your clients (all without adding stress to your already busy workload).
Join the easyAML readiness list
Tranche 2 is coming fast. But you don’t need to panic, and you certainly don’t need to go it alone. easyAML is here to help you get ready, with the clarity and confidence you deserve.
Join the easyAML Readiness List today to be among the first to access easyAML.
Or, if you’d simply like to learn more about Tranche 2 and how easyAML works, visit easyaml.com.