Westpac Banking Corporation

In April 2022, the Federal Court ordered Westpac and related entities to pay A$113 million across six ASIC proceedings involving widespread compliance failures. ASIC said more than 70,000 customers were affected over approximately 13 years. The misconduct included charging more than 11,800 deceased customers A$10.9 million in advice fees, selling duplicate insurance policies, inadequate fee disclosure, keeping deregistered-company accounts open, selling debts with incorrect interest rates and charging prohibited commissions through superannuation insurance premiums. Westpac admitted the allegations and agreed to remediate more than A$80 million to customers. Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2022-releases/22-097mr-westpac-penalised-113-million-after-multiple-asic-legal-actions/

In October 2020, the Federal Court ordered Westpac Banking Corporation to pay a A$1.3 billion penalty for breaches of Australia's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing laws. Westpac admitted extensive compliance failures involving international funds-transfer reporting and risk management. The Federal Court found that the contraventions persisted over a lengthy period, from at least November 2013 to November 2019, and described their regularity, number and systemic nature as serious. AUSTRAC's enforcement register states that Westpac breached the AML/CTF Act on more than 19 million occasions. The A$1.3 billion penalty remains the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history. Sources: AUSTRAC enforcement register https://www.austrac.gov.au/about-us/record-our-actions/enforcement-actions-taken Federal Court judgment via AUSTRAC https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-10/Chief%20Executive%20Officer%20of%20the%20Australian%20Transaction%20Reports%20and%20Analysis%20Centre%20v%20Westpac%20Banking%20Corporation%20%5B2020%5D%20FCA%201538.pdf