MONEY LAUNDERING – AUSTRALIA

‘Disappointing’: Big four banks to skip financial crime inquiry

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Original article by Charlotte Grieve
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

Labor Senator Deb O’Neill says it is "disappointing" that none of the big four banks have taken up an invitation to appear before a Senate inquiry into the effectiveness of Australia’s anti-money laundering regime. O’Neill was the instigator of the inquiry, which is looking at issues such as expanding the AML regime to cover professions such as lawyers and accountants, along with the effectiveness of the Australian Transaction Reports & Analysis Centre, which is the regulator of the AML regime. The big four banks – the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, the ANZ and the National Australia Bank – will instead be represented at the inquiry by the Australian Banking Association.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Star loses $1b in value as probe widens

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 12-Oct-21

Shares in Star Entertainment fell by 22.9 per cent on 11 October, following the publication of allegations that it allowed money laundering and infiltration by organised crime figures at its Gold Coast and Sydney casinos. NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority chairman Philip Crawford said it would investigate the allegations, but that it would do so in private, claiming that the logistical and cost challenges were too great for the Authority to facilitate a public hearing. Shareholder and gambling-reform activist Stephen Mayne claims the allegations against Star show the need for a national casino regulator, a view shared by Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie.

CORPORATES
THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT LIQUOR AND GAMING AUTHORITY

Victoria, WA circle Crown over new reports on shady deals

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 26 : 20-Nov-20

The Victorian Commission for Gambling & Liquor Regulation has directed Crown Resorts to produce two reports that it presented to the New South Wales inquiry into its Sydney casino. The reports indicate that money laundering occurred in ‘shell accounts’ linked to Crown’s Perth and Melbourne casinos, while the VCGLR has indicated that it has received a response from Crown about the ‘show cause’ notice issued in October regarding Crown’s links with questionable junket operators with alleged links to organised crime. Evidence regarding the shell accounts will also be considered by Western Australia’s Gaming and Wagering Commission on 24 November.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, VICTORIAN COMMISSION FOR GAMBLING AND LIQUOR REGULATION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. GAMING AND WAGERING COMMISSION

How ATO is catching more fraudsters

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 11-Dec-18

The Australian Taxation Office has joined forces with its peers in the US, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands to establish the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement group. The five tax authorities will co-operate in combating activities such as tax fraud, organised crime and money-laundering. Assistant tax commissioner Peter Vujanic says the ATO’s data-matching and analytical capabilities means there is now a much higher probability that tax-related crimes will be detected, regardless of their level of sophistication.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, UNITED STATES. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, GREAT BRITAIN. HM REVENUE AND CUSTOMS, CANADA. REVENUE AGENCY, NETHERLANDS. FISCAL INFORMATION AND INVESTIGATION SERVICE, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN CRIME COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN BORDER FORCE

CBA ignored warnings on systems: regulator

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 18-Dec-17

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has now been accused of 14 contraventions of section 82 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act. AUSTRAC advised the CBA on 14 December that it is adding six more alleged contraventions to its charges against the bank. AUSTRAC has also stated that the CBA had plenty of opportunities in recent years to improve its counter-terrorism funding and anti-money laundering procedures.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Bank staff blind eye to terror financing

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 5 : 13-Jul-17

AUSTRAC has concluded that Australian financial services providers such as banks should be doing more to identify and report financial transactions that may involve money laundering or terrorism financing. It contends that front-line staff in particular have a key role in identifying such activity, but they may not be doing so as they have a focus on client retention. AUSTRAC noted that 60 per cent of trading and ­settling organisations failed to report any suspicious activity in the two years to March 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE