The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has recently scored a number of high profile victories,finingWestpac and theCommonwealth Bank a combined $2 billion since 2018 over systemic breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML-CTF) Act.
The dual-track regulator,that feeds intelligence from banks to law enforcement,has become a much feared operator and has now set its sights on cleaning up the casino industry,revealing this month it was conducting simultaneous enforcement investigations onCrown,Star and SkyCity.
However,Senator O’Neill said AUSTRAC’s recent coups were only possible because the entities had self-reported breaches or relied on international tip offs and criticised the regulator for being reactive,rather than proactive,in its approach.
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“AUSTRAC are actually seeking to enhance their reputation on the back of those findings with the banks,” Senator O’Neill said. “There were internal warnings that were really being flagged at the board level about failures in compliance ... Banks knew about that for quite a while. The question is when did AUSTRAC know about it?
“I do have serious concerns about what AUSTRAC’s capacity is more broadly. I don’t know we want to celebrate everything AUSTRAC’s done.”
The motion,obtained byThe AgeandSydney Morning Herald,called on the committee to probe the extent to which AUSTRAC relies upon self-reporting breaches and is able to identify emerging problems at the entities it regulates.