24 SEPTEMBER 2020
Westpac Group has today announced it has reachedan agreementwith AUSTRAC to resolve the civil proceedings commencedin the Federal Court of Australia on 20 November 2019.
Under the agreement, the parties have today, agreed to:•filewith the Federal Court a Statement of Agreed Facts and Admissions•recommend to the Court that Westpac pay a civil penalty of $1.3 billionin relation to admitted contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism and Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act).
As part of the agreement, Westpac has admitted to additional contraventions that are outlined in the amended statement of claim, and which contribute to the agreed penalty.
Westpac Group Chief Executive Officer, Peter King, said: “I would like to apologise sincerely for the Bank’sfailings. “Weare committed to fixing the issues to ensure that these mistakes do not happen again.This has been my number one priority.We have also closed down relevant products and reported all relevant historical transactions.
“This agreement is an important step in the court process.It provides more certainty to all our stakeholders as we continue to implement the measures in our Response Plan and complete the implementation of recommendations from the reviews that have been conducted,” he said.
In June,Westpac released the findings from its investigation into its AML/CTF compliance issues as well as the Advisory Panel Report on governance and accountability.
