Hamish MacKenzie is group manager of Internal Audit and Risk at SKYCITY Entertainment Group. SKYCITY is a leading entertainment and gaming business in New Zealand (Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown) and Australia (Adelaide and Darwin).
MacKenzie's responsibilities at SKYCITY include: Ensuring that SKYCITY's annual internal audit program is delivered to global best practice standards; provision of accurate, objective, timely and independent information on key operational, financial and managerial risks and controls; oversight of SKYCITY's insurance program and public liability claims; and commercial review of key contracts.
Previously, MacKenzie was the head of risk assurance and audit at New Zealand's leading retailer, Farmers, and before that he was the associate director of KPMG's internal audit and risk advisory services team.
MacKenzie is also a Chartered Accountant and member of the IIA and ISACA. He has been a board member of the NZ Institute of Internal Auditors and was the inaugural recipient of the NZ Institute of Internal Auditors, "Internal Auditor of the Year" award.
ACAMS Today had the opportunity to speak with our 11,000th member from New Zealand for ACAMS 10th year anniversary.
ACAMS Today: How did you first become involved in the compliance field?
Hamish MacKenzie: I started my professional career as a graduate accountant at a mid-tier Chartered Accountancy firm in New Zealand.
The advantage of training with a mid-tier firm was that I gained fantastic training across a multitude of core accounting disciplines that included external audit, internal audit, risk management, tax and information systems.
This naturally led to a specialist internal audit and risk role with KPMG which allowed me to continue to provide compliance and consultancy advise to a diverse range of clients.
AT: When did you first hear about ACAMS and what prompted you to join the association?
HM: I first heard about ACAMS when I joined SKYCITY. At that time, our Australian Casino operations were introducing AML/CTF programs following the introduction of the Australian AML/CTF Act in 2006.
I have since found ACAMS to be a good source of information and guidance for AML related issues and decided to join ACAMS to take advantage of the local networking opportunities, presentations and events hosted by the local Australasian ACAMS Chapter.
AT: What do you feel is the biggest challenge for compliance professionals in New Zealand?
HM: New Zealand has recently announced revised AML/CTF regulations. Whilst New Zealand has previously had various AML/CTF requirements, these new regulations will introduce a number of new requirements that will require significant work and the combined efforts of compliance professionals, businesses and our regulators to meet the 30 June 2013 implementation deadline.
AT: What type of training do you feel would be most beneficial for compliance professionals in 2011?
HM: I believe that all compliance professionals, regardless of whether they are AML compliance officers, internal auditors or risk managers, can make better use of data analytics and computer assisted audit tools (CATTs) to target our reviews.
