About Events Contact

Australia

Reset Filter

Jurisdictions

Industry Sectors

Predicate Crimes

Enforcement

Regulatory Update

Featured Australia

Australia financial crime watchdog orders audit of Afterpay

Australia’s financial crime watchdog said it will audit buy-now-pay-later provider Afterpay Touch Group Ltd to ensure it was complying with anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, sending the company’s shares down. “The audit will help identify if Afterpay has developed and implemented the systems and controls it needs to ensure it… Read More

Australia seizes properties from Chinese national with Beijing’s help

The Australian government has confiscated three properties from a Chinese national after a joint money-laundering investigation with China, police said on Saturday. The Melbourne real estate was owned by a 32-year-old Chinese national who had been using an assumed name and had relocated to the Caribbean, the Australian Federal Police… Read More

FX collusion scandal reaches Australia, class action launched

An Australian law firm filed a class action lawsuit on Monday against five major international investment banks accusing them of colluding to rig foreign exchange rates during 2008-2013 to jack up profits at the expense of businesses and investors. The case involved some of the same banks caught up in… Read More

3rd April 2019

Australia budget lifts funding for financial regulators

The Australian government said it will increase funding of its two main financial-sector regulators in the wake of a year-long inquiry into banking misconduct, and will expand the Federal Court’s jurisdiction to include corporate crime. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will get an additional A$405 million ($288 million)… Read More

12th March 2019

Australia watchdog suspends two cryptocurrency exchanges for drug offences

Australia’s anti-money laundering watchdog said on Friday it had suspended license of two cryptocurrency exchanges after a police investigation found the businesses were being exploited for drug trafficking. It was the first such suspension by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, or AUSTRAC, since new legislation in April 2018… Read More

5th March 2019

Australia’s corporate regulator to interview CBA executives -AFR

Australia’s corporate regulator is interviewing top executives at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia as part of an investigation into alleged failure to prevent possible money laundering, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported on Tuesday. CBA in 2018 agreed to a civil penalty of A$700 million ($496.23 million) to settle charges… Read More

5th February 2019

Australia: ‘Greedy’ bankers put profit before customers, Commission findings show

A key government-appointed inquiry into misconduct and other issues within the Australian banking sector has highlighted a need to reform culture within the industry, and revealed issues of ‘greed’ within industry, where the drive for profit supersedes customer care. In its final report published on Monday, the Royal Commission said… Read More

12th December 2018

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank to book compliance costs of $216 million in first half

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) said on Tuesday that it would book charges of A$300 million (170 million pounds/$216 million) that would be reflected in its first-half results ending December. The charges include a higher-than-expected compliance cost of A$100 million related to a quasi-judicial inquiry into Australia’s financial sector, the… Read More

23rd November 2018

Australia flags removing citizenship from home-grown radicals

Australian nationals convicted of terror offences would be stripped of their citizenship if the government believes they are entitled to apply for residency from another country, Prime Minister Scott Morrison proposed on Thursday. Australia, a staunch U.S. ally that sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, has seen a spate of… Read More

5th November 2018

Money laundering: Australia’s NAB undergoing investigative issues on KYC, regulator involved

Australian lender NAB is going through some ‘investigative’ issues regarding weaknesses in its financial crime controls and is communicating with financial watchdog AUSTRAC about the matter, according to its annual results. NAB said it is also undergoing ‘remediation activities,’ and that it would also alert foreign regulators, where applicable. Read More

2nd October 2018

Australian Treasurer wary of new rules on banks hurting economy – reports

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg wants to ensure that any action against banks in the wake of a scathing report on their misconduct does not lead to tighter lending or hurt the economy, he said in a media interview on Monday. An independent commission last week said banks and wealth managers… Read More

6th September 2018

Big Australian fund manager divests Commonwealth Bank over misconduct

Wealth manager Perpetual Ltd (PPT.AX) said it has divested Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) from its A$1.3 billion ($933.6 million) ethical fund due to revelations of corporate misconduct, the first big institutional investor to do so. The move by one of Australia’s best-known share managers could encourage other socially minded… Read More

5th September 2018

Australia’s Westpac fined for bad mortgage system amid bank inquiry

Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) agreed to pay a record A$35 million (19.5 million pounds) fine for wrongly approving thousands of mortgages, in a sign regulators are taking steps to tame the financial sector amid damaging revelations from an inquiry. With this settlement, two out of three lawsuits brought this… Read More

Must Read

Nordea’s Danish headquarters searched as part of money laundering investigation

Iran says it will breach nuclear deal enrichment limit, drawing Western concern

Banks face new challenges in Italian diamond scandal

Nordic Banks Look to Machine Learning to Fill Compliance Roles: Report

Swedbank suspends CEO, CFO of Estonian unit