A solicitor only does CDD on their own client

People search “solicitor CDD own client only” when a solicitor is asked to collect the other side's identity so the deal can move. Checked against AUSTRAC's professional designated services page on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. Checks for law firms, as a topic of their own, are AML checks for lawyers. A society note that firms also read is Law Society NSW and AML. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Your client is the customer

Solicitor CDD on your own client only is the rule that stops a two-partner firm becoming a free identity desk for the whole contract. The customer is the person you provide the designated service to. On an ordinary matter that person is your client. The other party has their own adviser, and that adviser has their own program.

Collecting the other side's passport because their lawyer asked is not your due diligence, and it is not theirs either if you are the one who looked. Each firm follows its own program for its own customer.

• Name your client first. If you cannot say who you act for, you cannot say whose due diligence you are doing.
• Leave the other side to their firm. A request to just grab their ID is a request to blur two programs.
• Acting for two parties is different. The program has to allow it, and each customer is then in scope.
• A contract is not a joint customer. Sharing a document does not make both signatories your clients.

Favours that confuse the file

The awkward moment is usually a short email from the other side. Sort it before anyone uploads a document. Your file should show your customer, the service you are providing to them, and the check your program names for them.

Where the own-client page stops

This page is who you do due diligence on. It is not a full law-firm compliance manual. That wider topic is AML checks for lawyers.

It does not say whether a particular retainer is a designated service. Scope is still the program's question.

What the client pays

On FreeAML the firm suite is A$0. The firm emails the client a link. Verification is client-pays. On the public list a personal KYC check is A$20 and a company or trust KYB check is A$40. Use KYB when the customer is a company or a trust. You do not run the other side's check on your client's link, and you do not put their fee on your matter to be polite. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not decide who your client is or do customer due diligence for the other party's firm.

Frequently Asked Questions