Australia’s top financial watchdog has put the country’s financial sector on notice by telling stakeholders they better do everything they can to prevent aiding organised crime.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has told pubs, clubs, money remitters and FinTech firms to strengthen their technology to ensure their payment systems are not used for organised crimes and money laundering. If they fail to comply, they could risk getting slammed by public enforcement actions.
Speaking with the Australian Financial Review, AUSTRAC chief executive Nicole Rose said that she expects the warning will be effective. The reason for her optimism is that the regulator has noted a 95% increase in self-reported suspicious matter reports coming in from the industry after AUSTRAC won a record $700m settlement against Commonwealth Bank.
AUSTRAC has already met with groups of stakeholders to explain the money laundering risks they face.
The news comes days after AUSTRAC ordered PayPal to submit to external audit after it felt that payment giant had failed to live up to the standard expected of it. The order came after PayPal had reported itself to the authorities after an internal review found issues with how it reported international fund transfers.
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