Westpac faces fines over ‘serious and systemic’ anti-money laundering breaches, AUSTRAC says AUSTRAC has applied to the Federal Court for civil penalty orders against Westpac for deficient oversight of its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing obligations. Key points: • AUSTRAC alleges Westpac breached anti-money laundering laws on more than 23 million occasions • The bank recently warned investors it was in discussions with AUSTRAC and it could face a “significant financial penalty” • AUSTRAC said some of the breaches relate to transfers to the Philippines and SE Asia, raising child exploitation risks The bank is alleged to have breached the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML-CTF) Act on more than 23 million occasions, including the failure to adequately monitor the accounts of a convicted child sex offender who was regularly sending money to the Philippines. Westpac more generally failed to “carry out appropriate due diligence on customers sending money to the Philippines and South East Asia for known child exploitation risks,” AUSTRAC alleged. The anti-money laundering regulator is accusing Westpac of failing to report more than 19.5 million international funds transfer instructions to it over a period of five years
