Commonwealth Bank agrees to pay $700m to settle money laundering lawsuit
If federal court accepts offer it will be largest civil penalty in Australia’s corporate history
Monday, June 4, 2018
The Commonwealth Bank has agreed to pay $700m to settle civil proceedings relating to breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. The announcement follows court-ordered mediation between CBA and the government’s financial intelligence agency, Austrac. The deal would close civil proceedings against CBA, which began 10 months ago. In August Austrac announced it was suing CBA for 53,700 alleged breaches of money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. The case related to CBA’s use of intelligent deposit machines, a type of ATM launched in 2012, which let customers anonymously deposit and transfer cash.