Australia's largest bank faces civil action for failing to report over fifty thousand alleged breaches of money laundering and terrorism financing laws.The transactions are valued at more than half a billion dollars.
The financial intelligence regulatory agency (AUSTRAC) alleges there were some 53,700 contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act which requires banks to report cash transactions involving more than $10,000.
The regulator alleges the bulk of the deposits into the country's biggest bank were made using the bank's intelligent deposit machines which the bank failed to adequately assess before rolling them out in 2012. The breaches are alleged to have occurred between 2012 and 2015.
Annual Results
Even after Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) became aware of the suspected money laundering or structuring AUSTRAC in its statement alleges the bank did not take steps to mitigate or manage the risks. It also says the bank failed to report suspicious matters either on time or at all for transactions totalling another $77 million.
CBA issued a statement that it was working closely with AUSTRAC and have cooperated fully with all their requests.
The bank is scheduled to announce its annual results on 9 August 2017, the briefing will be hosted by the chief executive officer, Ian Narev.
