The National Australia Bank (NAB) has been informed by AUSTRAC it has identified “serious concerns” with NAB’s compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) Act 2006 and the AML and CTF Financing Rules 2007.
AUSTRAC advised NAB in a letter on 4 June, 2021, that there was “potential serious and ongoing non-compliance” with customer identification procedures, ongoing customer due diligence and compliance with Part A of NAB’s AML/CTF program.
Those concerns were referred to AUSTRAC’s enforcement team which had initiated a formal enforcement investigation.
AUSTRAC said it had not made any decision about whether or not enforcement action would be taken, but at this stage it was not considering civil penalty proceedings and this decision was “reflective of the work undertaken” by NAB to date.
The referral followed regular engagement by NAB with AUSTRAC, to report issues and keep AUSTRAC informed of progress of NAB’s AML and CTF programs.
Ross McEwan, NAB chief executive, said the bank would continue to cooperate with any AUSTRAC investigation.
“NAB takes its financial crime obligations seriously. We are very aware that we need to further improve our performance in relation to these matters. We have been working to improve and clearly have more to do,” McEwan said.
“NAB has important role in monitoring and reporting suspicious activity and keeping Australia’s financial system, our bank and our customers safe.
“It is a key priority for everyone at NAB to uplift our financial capabilities, minimise risk to customers and the bank, and improve operation performance. That’s why we are so focused on getting the basics right every time to protect our customers and our bank.”
