SYDNEY :Commonwealth Bank of Australia has agreed to pay a 530-million-U.S dollar fine on Monday, to resolve legal proceedings related to systemic breaches of money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
If the federal court accepts the proposal made by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and the country’s biggest bank, it will be the largest civil penalty in the nation’s corporate history.
In Australia, authorities must be notified when a deposit of 10,000 Australian dollars (7,616 U.S. dollars) cash is made to an account.
But during November 2012 to September 2015, an AUSTRAC investigation alleged that the Commonwealth Bank had contravened this law on more than 53,500 occasions, due to lapse monitoring of its Intelligent Deposit Machines.
The value of these transactions are believed to total around 625 million Australian dollars (495 million U.S.
During the same time period, AUSTRAC also accused the bank of not properly monitoring 778,370 accounts.
“I hope this result alerts the financial sector to the consequences of poor compliance, and reinforces that businesses need to take their obligations seriously,” AUSTRAC chief executive officer Nicole Rose said in a statement.
“This has real impacts on the everyday lives of Australians and puts the community at risk by increasing opportunities for terrorists to support attacks here and overseas, and enabling organized crime groups to peddle drugs to our families and friends.””We know that businesses are the first line of defence in protecting the community and our financial system from criminal abuse and it is critical for money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance and risk management to be embedded in business strategy and practices.”On top of the record fine, the financial institution will also be forced to pay 2.5 million Australian dollars (1.9 million U.S. dollars) in legal fees.
“Our agreement today is a clear acknowledgement of our failures and is an important step towards moving the bank forward and on behalf of Commonwealth Bank, I apologize to the community for letting them down,” Commonwealth Bank chief executive officer Matt Comyn said in a statement.
“We are committed to building on the significant changes made in recent years as part of a comprehensive program to improve operational risk management and compliance at the bank.””To date, we have spent over 400 million Australian dollars (304 million U.S. dollars) on systems, processes and people relating to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance and will continue to prioritize investment in this area.”
