AUSTRAC issues know-your-customer, cuckoo smurfing warning
James Frost, 28 June 2021
The financial intelligence regulator has warned reporting entities to stay on top of their obligations, following recent changes to the AML-CTF Act that added clarity on know-your-customer requirements and banned certain types of correspondent banking.
AUSTRAC CEO Nicole Rose spoke of the growing awareness of the damage money laundering was doing to the community in a newsletter that reminded entities they needed to verify a customer before letting them make transactions and contained a guide on how to spot a form of money laundering known as “cuckoo smurfing”, which facilitates the transfer of funds overseas without alerting the authorities. Continue reading “Article: AUSTRAC issues know-your-customer, cuckoo smurfing warning”
The financial intelligence watchdog and big four banks will be probed under a new parliamentary inquiry designed to measure the efficiency and adequacy of the Australia’s anti-money laundering regime.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac), a state-run financial intelligence organization, has leveled allegations against many of the major land-based casinos in the country.
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s anti-money-laundering agency on Monday widened a probe into due diligence at casinos to include the three biggest operators, ratcheting up pressure on a sector already struggling with the pandemic and heightened regulatory scrutiny.
The National Australia Bank is being investigated by national financial crime regulators for breaking money laundering laws as part of a broader crackdown on organized crime.
Two South Australian MPs have called for a royal commission into the operations of the Adelaide casino similar to those underway into Crown in Victoria and Western Australia.
Crown faced pushback after cutting by half the length of a historical review into the presence of money laundering in its bank accounts, a royal commission has heard.
Crown Resorts stopped an independent review of new anti-money laundering controls early this year after preliminary findings suggested it was not complying with measures to prevent criminal infiltration of its bank accounts.
At first glance there doesn’t appear to be an obvious nexus between alleged fresh money laundering claims against Crown Resorts revealed during Monday’s Victorian royal commission and the company’s decision not to redeem $630 million of subordinated notes.
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The Western Australia gambling watchdog’s board “regularly discussed” the threat of money laundering in Crown’s Perth casino but did not feel it had “the resources or authority” to investigate it itself, a royal commission heard on Wednesday.
Crown Resorts management “lied” and used delay tactics to stymie an investigation into the 2016 arrests of 19 China-based staff, the Victorian gambling regulator told the Crown Resorts royal commission on Monday.
The Victorian Royal Commission into the suitability of Crown Resorts to hold a casino licence in Melbourne commenced today.