Westpac is closing in on a settlement with AUSTRAC for breaching anti-money laundering laws and failing to stop child exploitation payments in what is expected to be the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history | CharlotteGriev1
Westpac's money laundering scandal threw the bank into turmoil last year, triggering the departure of its former chief executive Brian Hartzer and former chairman Lindsay Maxsted.
The big four bank had previously flagged it intended to accept most of the charges put forward by AUSTRAC in a bombshell statement of claim lodged in the Federal Court last November., including an additional $160 million to improve its financial crimes detection procedures and donations to child exploitation agencies.
AUSTRAC alleged the bank breached anti-money laundering laws 23 million times by failing to properly vet thousands of international transactions, including customers who paid for child exploitation and live child sex shows in the Philippines and other parts of South East Asia. Westpac released the findings of its own investigation into the compliance breaches in June, with two major investigations blaming technology failures, leadership misjudgments and poor systems for the breaches.A Westpac spokesperson said the bank was unable to comment because the matter was before the courts.
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