AUSTRAC has released its regulatory priorities for this financial year, outlining new plans to reduce the harms from money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious crime.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said financial crime damages Australia’s financial system and this year’s focus is on preparing to regulate ‘tranche 2’ industries and targeting gaps in high-risk sectors such as cash and digital currencies.
AUSTRAC has ordered the appointment of an external auditor to Western Union Financial Services Australia (Western Union) after raising concerns about the money remitter’s compliance with the AML/CTF Act.
Among the concerns were core anti-money laundering issues such as poor customer due diligence, delayed or non-reporting of suspicious matters, non-compliant international funds transfer instruction reporting and concerns about whether Western Union’s AML/CTF program is functional.
A nationwide law enforcement operation has led to the identification of 90 scam victims, money mules, and suspected offenders who topped the list of crypto ATM users.
Analysts from AUSTRAC’s Cryptocurrency Taskforce examined the profiles of the most prolific crypto ATM users in each state, based on the value of their transactions, and identified dozens of cases they believed could be linked to scams or fraud.
AUSTRAC has refused to renew a crypto ATM operator’s registration and placed operating conditions, including transaction limits, on other Australian crypto ATM providers.
The conditions come after an AUSTRAC taskforce flagged worrying trends in crypto ATM compliance.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said over several months, the taskforce observed customer activity that bears the hallmarks of scams, fraud, and other illicit activity.
AUSTRAC has instructed The Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville and Mindil Beach Casino Resort in Darwin to appoint external auditors to assess their AML/CTF compliance.
The actions were taken after AUSTRAC identified potential gaps and deficiencies in AML/CTF controls, risk and oversight.
AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan Thomas, said the far-north casinos operate gaming machines and table games which come with an elevated risk. Without adequate controls and monitoring, they can be used for money laundering.
AUSTRAC issued infringement notices of $75,120 to digital currency exchange provider Cointree Pty Ltd for the alleged failure to submit suspicious matter reports (SMRs) to AUSTRAC on time.
The action came after Cointree voluntarily disclosed it had not met the reporting timeframes required by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act).
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said that failing to submit SMRs on time denies AUSTRAC and its law enforcement partners the opportunity to act on the information in a timely manner.
AUSTRAC has ordered the appointment of an external auditor to Mercedes Benz Financial Services Australia after raising concerns about the financier’s compliance with the AML/CTF Act.
Among the concerns were serious issues such as assuming most customers were low risk, a lack of systems to identify and escalate suspicious matters, and inadequate transaction monitoring.
Joint efforts under AUSTRAC’s Fintel Alliance have led to significant law enforcement outcomes, prompting AUSTRAC to expand its successful intelligence partnership.
Fintel Alliance is a world leading public-private partnership where members and law enforcement work together and share data in real time to target serious crime.
AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan Thomas said the Intelligence Division’s Fintel Alliance has been so productive that the agency will now make its collaborative data analytics hub a central function going forward.
AUSTRAC is encouraging inactive digital currency exchange (DCE) businesses to voluntarily withdraw their registrations or risk having it cancelled.
DCEs must be registered with AUSTRAC before they can offer a service to exchange cash for cryptocurrency, or vice versa. This includes cryptocurrency ATM providers.
There are currently 427 registered DCEs but AUSTRAC is concerned that a significant proportion are inactive. AUSTRAC is contacting any DCEs that appear to no longer be trading.
Businesses and individuals bound by the tipping off offence must now consider whether a disclosure could be expected to prejudice an investigation, under changes to the AML/CTF laws that came into force today.