Water Sprite are not obliged to comply as a reporting entity to the Anti-Money Laundering laws of Australia. However, as an internationally operating business with plenty of scope to be utilised in money laundering operations, we have put in place some precautions to ensure we do not get utilised in money laundering or other criminal activities.

Price controls

Our Creators do not get to set prices for their Merchandise. We have adopted the licencing structure for precisely this reason. If we were an open marketplace that allowed Creators to sell their works and set their own prices, there is significantly more scope for abuse. By keeping pricing within Water Sprite control, there is no scope for launderers to sell low-value products at inflated prices to launder money. We do allow Creators to specify that some or all of their products should be sold at a discount to the set rate, but we do not allow greater prices.

Knowing our Creators

When setting up a Creator, we require them to provide a copy of photographic proof of identity from their country of residence. We will only pay out to a bank account held in that same name, in that country, and in the currency of that country. In that way, we can ensure that we are only paying legitimate Creators and not facilitating the illegal movement of money across borders.

Creators – you have been warned that we will not change the payout bank details without re-verification of all these details. Never; no matter how urgent the crisis. Coming up with some sort of reason why money needs to be urgently sent to some unverified address is standard practice for dodgy people. Sorry, but we cannot do it. For a start, we don’t know if it is someone who has gotten access to your email account or computer. If you’re having a crisis and need support, talk to us urgently. We’ll see how we can support you in other ways, as well as facilitating a change of payout details in accordance with the above requirements quickly on receipt of the required information.

Record keeping and Reporting

While we are not required to report any transactions, the financial institutions we deal with are. In order to provide them with any details they require, we will keep full records of the sales that comprise the payouts to our Creators. This includes the destination address for any orders made, as well as metadata that may indicate where the person originating the transaction is based.

In addition, we reserve the right to specifically report any activity that appears to be unusual to the appropriate authorities, including disclosing any information we hold that would assist those authorities to investigate the matter.

Why do we do this?

We are not required by law to do this. However, we sell internationally, and represent Creators internationally. By keeping to these principles, we reduce our risk profile to the financial institutions that provide our international banking facilities. That means they can offer us a reduced fee for their services, and those are cost savings we can pass on to you and to our Creators. That is to everyone’s advantage. As a bonus, we minimise the chances of our services being abused, making for a better, safer, fairer world for everyone. I call that a win-win-win-win situation!