Westpac and AUSTRAC recently reached a $1.3 billion settlement agreement to compensate for Westpac’s violations of Australia’s AML/CTF Act of 2006. The two parties have agreed to this penalty amount after a thorough consideration of the gravity of Westpac’s AML failures. If the Federal Court of Australia finds the proposed penalty to be fitting, Westpac will be set to pay the highest ever civil penalty in the history of the country.
During AUSTRAC’s investigation, Westpac admitted to violating the AML/CTF Act on as many as 23 million occasions. Westpac failed to report International Funds Transfer Instructions (IFTIs) worth $11 billion to AUSTRAC. Moreover, it failed to collect and maintain records about the origin of suspicious international fund transfers. The investigation also revealed Westpac’s failure to conduct appropriate customer due diligence.
Additionally, Westpac admitted to over 76,000 other instances where it failed to report more IFTIs and monitor customers involved in transactions that could have links to child exploitation, among others.