CBA Ordered to Pay $700 Million for Major Anti-Money-Laundering Compliance Failures
Company: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Summary
In June 2018, the Federal Court ordered Commonwealth Bank of Australia to pay a A$700 million civil penalty for breaches of Australia's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing laws. CBA admitted to 53,750 contraventions of the AML/CTF Act. AUSTRAC's investigation focused heavily on CBA's Intelligent Deposit Machines, which were used in transactions involving proceeds of crime. The admitted failures included deficiencies in transaction reporting, suspicious-matter reporting and management of money-laundering risks. At the time, the A$700 million penalty was the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history. Sources: AUSTRAC https://www.austrac.gov.au/news-and-media/media-release/austrac-welcomes-federal-court-orders-cba-penalty AUSTRAC enforcement register https://www.austrac.gov.au/about-us/record-our-actions/enforcement-actions-taken