On Friday, in a defense filing in Federal Court, Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp admitted that in a number of cases, it has failed to comply with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism laws.
Westpac Banking Corp, Australia’s second largest bank admitted in court that it had failed to correctly report various international transfers of funds as required by law.
Westpac also admitted that it failed in its record keeping and customer due diligence duties; it also admitted to non-compliance of breaches of certain correspondent banking obligations.
Australia’s regulator AUSTRAC has accused the bank of ignoring red flags and enabled payments, for years, from convicted child sex offenders, as well as from “high risk” countries.
Westpac has set aside A$900 million ($580 million) for an expected fine from the case.
“Westpac and AUSTRAC continue to engage constructively and are discussing a Statement of Agreed Facts and Admissions,” said Westpac in statement on Friday.
The case against Westpac comes just months after a government mandated inquiry into the financial sector found thousands of instances of misconduct.
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