Westpac has agreed to pay the largest fine in Australian corporate history — a $1.3 billion settlement — but what exactly did it do wrong and how does the penalty stack up?
After the regulator launched its action against Westpac, a subsequent review uncovered a further 250 customers who made suspicious transactions to the Philippines, other parts of South-East Asia and Mexico.There were frequent transfers of relatively small amounts to multiple overseas recipients using LitePay and other Westpac services.
The clear implication is that these payments were made for child exploitation, such as the live streaming of child sex or procurement of children for sex, while these people were overseas. When AUSTRAC first launched the case, child protection advocate Hetty Johnston from Bravehearts outlined the human effect of the failure to detect and report these transactions earlier.
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