Commonwealth Bank of Australia negotiated a settlement of the damaging and long-running anti-money laundering case brought by Australian regulators. The fine is much higher than expected.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will pay A$702.5 million to settle anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism proceedings. The move follows a court-ordered mediation between CBA and the country's financial intelligence agency, the bank said in a statement on Monday.
The agreement includes an admission by CBA that it failed to properly file more than 53,000 reports to Austrac, Australia's financial intelligence agency, over cash deposits of more than A$10,000 in its ATMs.
Landmark Fine
If approved by the court the fine is almost double the bank's earliest estimates of A$375. CBA will now recognize a A$700 million provision in its financial statements for the full year ending June 30, 2018 which will be announced on August 8. If agreed by the federal court it will represent the largest ever civil penalty in Australian corporate history.
CBA Chief Executive Matt Comyn said the agreement brought certainty to one of the most significant issues the bank had faced. «On behalf of Commonwealth Bank, I apologize to the community for letting them down,» he added.
