What we are hearing – March 2021

March 29, 2021

The deadline for filing AUSTRAC’s annual compliance report for the 2020 calendar year will expire 31st March for the estimated 14,000 reporting entities that are subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) obligations in Australia. The annual compliance report is a mandatory requirement and AUSTRAC may impose penalties on regulated entities that fail to submit these on time – have you submitted yours yet?

The primary purpose of the AUSTRAC compliance report is a self-assessment on how each reporting entity has met each of its core AML/CTF obligations across the core pillars of the AML/CTF requirements, including; the enterprise-wide ML/TF risk assessment, customer due diligence programs and transaction monitoring programs and is used by AUSTRAC to help detect areas of non-compliance, identify higher risk industry sectors and to guide their industry education and outreach programs.

At Arctic Intelligence, we have been helping hundreds of businesses globally across over 30 industry sectors, gain a deeper understanding of enterprise-wide ML/TF risk assessments and the types of controls they need to implement to effectively mitigate and manage these risks across their AML/CTF Programs, through our multi-award winning platforms AML Accelerate and the Risk Assessment Platform.

So regardless of whether you have lodged your annual compliance report or not, it is never too late to take a deeper look into your enterprise-wide ML/TF risk assessment and the effectiveness of the controls outlined in your AML/CTF Program and identify opportunities for improvement by taking advantage of our cost-effective solutions that can help your organisation strengthen its defences against financial crime.

We have seen many cases of well resourced and well meaning organisations that have simply failed to grasp what is expected of them or who lack the skills, knowledge, experience or resources to meet the expectations of their regulators and Boards, exposing their companies to unnecessary regulatory risks like fines and other penalties. With AUSTRAC publicly stating that enforcement of material non-compliance should be expected – now is the time to act.

If you would like to find out how our solutions can help you identify, assess and understand your financial crime risks and implement effective controls please get in touch with our team.

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