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Macquarie, CBA face fresh money laundering scrutiny after data leak

Macquarie Group and Commonwealth Bank are facing fresh scrutiny of their oversight of anti-money laundering laws after it emerged that overseas banks had reported close to $167 million of potential dirty money transactions flowing through the two Australian banks. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) has released a… Read More

Australia: Stockbrokers the new money laundering front line as illicit funds target the ASX

A proposed change to money laundering laws could flood the stock exchange with dirty cash, experts have warned. Financial crime authority AUSTRAC has closed public consultation on a key rule about identifying the source of funds used to buy and sell ASX stocks, which could inadvertently make it easier for… Read More

Drug kingpins, fraudsters and a jailed banker on leaked Chinese database

Hundreds of Australian people smugglers, fraudsters, drug kingpins and a former Macquarie banker jailed for dealing ecstasy are named on a leaked Chinese database, pointing to Beijing’s use of organised crime figures for gathering intelligence and running foreign interference operations. The database compiled by military contractor China Zhenhua, revealed by The… Read More

16th September 2020

State Street bank hit with million-dollar money laundering fine in Australia

The Australian arm of a global bank is the latest financial institution to be fined for breaching anti-money laundering laws. The US-based State Street bank has been hit with a $1.24 million infringement notice for failing to declare international transfer instructions that potentially left it exposed to organised crime, terrorism,… Read More

11th September 2020

Westpac’s Peter King cautious on Pacific after AUSTRAC

Westpac chief Peter King said the consequences of breaching anti-money laundering laws are so large that the bank can’t guarantee it will be able to continue to provide remittance services for workers in Australia looking to send money home to the Pacific. Briefing the House of Representatives economics committee on… Read More

10th September 2020

No answers from ‘urgent’ Crown casino probe one year later

Victoria’s gambling regulator is yet to report back to the state government on an “urgent” investigation into Crown Resort’s Melbourne casino more than a year after being ordered to examine its infiltration by organised crime. The Andrews government ordered the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation probe after The… Read More

4th September 2020

Police seize Melbourne property in international corruption case

Federal police have seized properties and cash worth $1.6 million over an alleged scheme to use the Melbourne property market to funnel millions of dollars of funds from a Malaysian government entity to corrupt officials. The seized properties and funds in bank accounts were owned by Australian property developer Dennis… Read More

3rd September 2020

Crown’s cash records compromised money laundering checks, inquiry told

Crown Resorts staff compromised the casino’s anti-money laundering program by recording multiple large cash deposits from patrons as a single transaction, which obscured potential criminal activity, a public inquiry has heard. Crown’s chief legal officer Joshua Preston told the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority’s probity inquiry on Tuesday that… Read More

1st September 2020

Crown did not monitor ‘money-laundering’ accounts, inquiry told

Crown Resorts’ top legal officer has told a public inquiry that the casino giant’s anti-money laundering teams did not monitor two company bank accounts suspected to have been used to clean dirty cash. The NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority’s probity inquiry into Crown had earlier heard that the ANZ… Read More

27th August 2020

ASIC won’t take action against CBA over money laundering scandal

The corporate watchdog won’t be taking any action against Commonwealth Bank or its directors over a money laundering scandal that engulfed the banking giant three years ago. In the immediate aftermath of an explosive 2017 lawsuit against CBA for money laundering breaches, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said… Read More

21st August 2020

‘Cheriegate’ conman Peter Foster held over betting scam claims

A convicted conman who became notorious for his involvement in a property deal with Cherie Blair was arrested in Australia yesterday over an alleged sports betting scam. Peter Foster, 57, is accused of defrauding a gambler while running a sports trading company under a false name. He was detained on… Read More

19th August 2020

Partnerships to Fight Financial Crime Gain Momentum

Countries have long fought financial crime by relying on banks to identify and report suspicious transactions. But the system is largely ineffective, financial crime experts say, because it rarely provides useful real-time feedback—a reality that is giving way to a more collaborative approach. For around the past five years, governments… Read More

14th August 2020

Information sharing in the era of coronavirus tracing apps – a new context for fighting financial crime?

Coronavirus infection tracing apps have brought the formerly obscure and specialist topic of ‘centralised’ versus ‘decentralised’ data analysis into the spotlight, in a way that few could have foreseen. Coronavirus has also led to a rapid escalation of a wider debate across liberal democracies about the legitimacy of… Read More

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Macquarie, CBA face fresh money laundering scrutiny after data leak

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