Austrac in a sentence

AUSTRAC said it ordered the audit following "a period of ongoing engagement with Afterpay where AUSTRAC has identified concerns with its compliance".

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) had ordered an external audit of the firm in 2022.

Bright can’t and won’t talk about Westpac’s issues with AUSTRAC that have the bank before the courts.

But Labor's home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally believes there are serious questions to be answered about AUSTRAC's protocols and processes when it becomes aware of suspected child abuse.

Serving and former officials who worked for or with Austrac have queried why the money laundering agency had failed to do more to investigate Crown's dealings with Suncity, while acknowledging other agencies also had jurisdiction.

The big four lender expects to "incur additional expenses" and will "reconsider its current cost growth expectations" as the number of investigations into its business pile up following the AUSTRAC scandal.

Additionally there is a risk that shareholders will vote down Marriott’s re-election to the board next month if he is considered tainted by the AUSTRAC allegations.

Afterpay is still awaiting a final report from auditors into its anti-money laundering compliance after AUSTRAC directed this to occur earlier in 2019.

Austrac is also working closely with banks to detect crimes overseas, and Ms Rose said it had experienced a 580 per cent increase in reports about suspicious activity potentially related to child exploitation.

Mr Hartzer, who has led the bank since February 2015, did not dispute the allegations but took issue with AUSTRAC's characterisation of Westpac's apparent inaction.

Mr Morrison said AUSTRAC had done its job and now the board and executive of Westpac needed to do the same.

Ms Rose said AUSTRAC would work with Afterpay to mature and strengthen its compliance processes and staff training.

The AUSTRAC allegations have already claimed the scalp of chief executive Brian Hartzer - who has been replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Peter King - while chairman Lindsay Maxsted will resign in the first half of 2020.

The financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC last week also said the bank failed to properly vet thousands of payments potentially linked to child exploitation.

These contraventions are the result of systemic failures in its control environment, indifference by senior management and inadequate oversight by the board,” AUSTRAC said in a statement of claim filed with the Federal Court.

Westpac’s brand damage via its AUSTRAC revelations has seen the big US investment house, Goldman Sachs, downgrade its future share price by 10%!

Westpac’s chief executive, Brian Hartzer, is believed to have faced questions from the board on Wednesday about the bank’s response to Austrac charges relating to child exploitation transactions.

When Westpac was found by Austrac last month to have contravened anti-money-laundering laws 23 million times, its then chief executive promptly cancelled the company’s Christmas party.

Barely a month later, Austrac hit the bank.

It comes months after Austrac initiated a lawsuit against Commonwealth Bank of Australia for breaches of money laundering laws.