News
April 2020 news in brief
We have witnessed a paradigm shift in financial crime activity and the vulnerabilities across different industry sectors have increased. Many regulators and governments are responding however the responsibility lies with each business to ensure they are protecting their business from money laundering and terrorist financing schemes. We have collated some of the latest AML/CTF news…
Read MoreWestpac plan for a $900M fine after AML/CTF breach
OPINION: Today Westpac indicated that it expects to suffer write-offs of $1.4bn against its first-half earnings, with $900m of this amount being what the bank expects to pay to settle its 23 million breaches of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Westpac also indicated that $500m in write-offs would be for improving its compliance…
Read MoreUK FCA unveils 2020/2021 business plan
OPINION: Earlier this week the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued its business plan for 2020-2021, which outlines their priorities for the financial year including the industry sectors that it will focus its attention on, its key financial crime prevention priorities and specific activities it plans to undertake. The FCA’s key priorities are threefold:- sharing…
Read MoreGreens pressuring the Australian government to tighten AML laws
The Australian Government has been accused of being hypocritical as Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton and others have all been calling out for Westpac to be held accountable for the 23 million breaches of AML/CTF laws when they are not holding themselves to account. Anthony Quinn, CEO of Arctic Intelligence, a software business specialising in audit,…
Read MorePoor legal advice led to AML/CTF breaches at Afterpay
In June 2019, AUSTRAC ordered Afterpay to appoint an external auditor after the agency identified concerns with Afterpay’s compliance with anti-money-laundering laws. The final report from external independent auditor Neil Jeans was provided to AUSTRAC today. In the final report, Jeans broadly praised Afterpay’s compliance efforts and attributed the breaches to poor advice from an…
Read MoreFATF suspends Australia’s AML law evaluation
The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) has suspended the evaluation of financial crime laws mid-way through an examination of Australia’s progress in the area. A FATF spokesman said, “In October, the FATF decided to temporarily pause the start of all scheduled follow-up assessments – this is not an Australia specific decision.” But was there more to…
Read MoreNAB may face heavy penalties after admitting money-laundering breaches
Hot on the heels of Westpac’s announcement three weeks ago that it has provisioned hundreds of millions of dollars for additional remediation costs and a potential fine by AUSTRAC, over its failure to report “a large number” of International Funds Transfer Instructions (IFTIs) it was NABs turn to make an announcement. In its annual report…
Read MoreThe Solicitor Regulation Authority: One in five UK law firms fails to comply with money laundering rules
Following the discovery of law firms not complying with anti-money laundering regulations, the Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA) is planning to launch money laundering investigations into 7,000 law firms. Solicitor firms that fail to comply will potentially face enforcement action. In March 2019, the SRA wrote to 400 firms asking them to demonstrate compliance with the…
Read MoreAUSTRAC releases mutual banking sector money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment
Yesterday, AUSTRAC released the Mutual Banking Sector Risk Assessment report which concluded that the mutual banking sector has a high level of vulnerability to financial crime with the main threat being money laundering and with the overall money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessed as medium. According to the report, the mutual banking sector has…
Read MoreAML/CTF and other legislation amendment bill 2019 introduced to federal parliament
The AML/CTF and Other Legislation Amendment Bill was introduced into Federal Parliament on the 17th October 2019. “The bill is the next phase of the government’s reforms to bolster our anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing, or AML/CTF, regime, to prevent criminals from enjoying the profits of their illegal activities, and to stop funds falling into the…
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