After an internal review in response to AUSTRAC’s 2019 statement of claim, Westpac reported additional suspicious matter reports in relation to potential child exploitation, as well as issues regarding its obligation to file threshold transaction reports.
AUSTRAC is now further investigating those matters and could amend its statement of claim to include allegations arising from Westpac’s investigation. The regulator has requested information from the bank in relation to threshold transaction report issues and 272 customers who were the subject of suspicious matter reports previously filed as part of Westpac’s lookback.
A further case management hearing is scheduled for 17 June 2020.
Friends, look at this in this fashion – these institutions run the system. When the supply chain and the regulators are in the same bed. You get this sort of play. When the AFCA is funded by the institutions they do what is best for their paymasters. The TIO – [telecommunications industry Ombudsman] is funded by the like of Telstra etc. So just try and ask the TIO to do a job. It is laughable that you do not get it.
Will criminal charges ever be filed against Senior Westpac Banking executives (both current and former)? Will these execs get a life time ban by ASIC (or another regulator) from working in Financial services for engaging in criminal activity (that harmed innocent children?)
Ironically, a little before the whole money laundering for pedophiles scandal was exposed – Westpac was in the midst of closing down it’s Financial Advice business. During that time, Westpac was all too eager to fail financial advisers on their exit audits over the most innocuous and trivial issues (that were immaterial to clients) – ensuring that these Financial Advisers would never be able to find work again. And yet, here we are…Westpac engages in criminal activity which endangers the lives of children….and their execs walk away with multi-million dollar golden hand shakes.
You’d think after the first big one you would put all efforts into ensuring it didn’t happen again!