Aussie bank to pay US$530m for breach
Print Edition
THE Commonwealth Bank yesterday agreed to the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history to settle claims it breached anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
The A$700 million (US$530 million) fine — which is subject to court approval — comes after mediation between Australia’s biggest lender and the country’s financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC.
It follows the bank being taken to court last August for “serious and systemic non-compliance” of anti-money laundering laws more than 53,000 times, with AUSTRAC filing 100 further claims in December.
The bank was also accused of failing to adequately monitor suspected terrorist financiers.
“While not deliberate, we fully appreciate the seriousness of the mistakes we made,” said the bank’s CEO Matt Comyn in a statement.
“Our agreement today is a clear acknowledgement of our failures and is an important step towards moving the bank forward. On behalf of Commonwealth Bank, I apologize to the community for letting them down.”
The bank, which in the fallout has replaced senior leadership overseeing financial crimes and pumped millions of dollars into improving its systems, also agreed to pay AUSTRAC’s A$2.5 million legal fees.
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