Media releases

Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Tony Burke, will seek to introduce a new power enabling the AUSTRAC CEO to restrict or prohibit certain high-risk products, services or delivery channels.

The amendment would give the AUSTRAC CEO additional options to reduce money laundering risks associated with high-risk products.

AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan Thomas, welcomes these changes and said if Parliament passes the law, AUSTRAC will be ready to use them.

“We’re still seeing an unacceptable risk of money laundering across some channels,” Mr Thomas said.

As part of National Child Protection Week, AUSTRAC is reminding financial services providers of the critical role they play in detecting child sexual exploitation for financial gain.

AUSTRAC collects and analyses suspicious matter reports shared by financial service providers, like banks, remitters, digital currency exchanges and payment platforms, and these reports form the basis of financial intelligence used to detect transactions linked to for-profit child abuse.

AUSTRAC has issued Revolut Payments Australia Pty Ltd (Revolut) with an infringement notice totalling $187,800 after the company notified AUSTRAC it had submitted late reports.

Revolut, a remittance service provider, self-disclosed failures to submit international funds transfer instructions within the timeframe stipulated by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Act.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said after Revolut identified the issue it took the prompt steps to submit its reports and fix its controls.

AUSTRAC has directed Binance Australia to appoint an external auditor after identifying serious concerns with the crypto exchange’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing (AML/CTF) controls. 

Investbybit Pty Ltd, Binance Global’s Australian arm, is an AUSTRAC registered digital currency exchange provider.  

By transaction volume it is the world’s largest centralised crypto exchange. Established in 2017, it holds regulatory approvals or permissions in around 20 jurisdictions.

AUSTRAC is encouraging inactive remittance businesses to voluntarily withdraw their registrations or risk cancellation. 

More than 900 independent remittance businesses are registered with AUSTRAC but a large proportion could be inactive. 

AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan Thomas, said it’s important that only businesses with active services are listed on the register to limit the potential sale and use of these businesses for illicit purposes and ensure the public can verify operational businesses. 

AUSTRAC has launched Federal Court civil penalty proceedings against Mount Pritchard District and Community Club (Mounties), for alleged serious and systemic non-compliance with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.

AUSTRAC alleges that Mounties contravened the AML/CTF Act, providing gaming services to its customers in circumstances where it had not adopted and maintained an AML CTF program in compliance with the AML/CTF Rules. 

AUSTRAC has finalised the Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with National Australia Bank (NAB) after the bank satisfied its obligations under the agreement. 

AUSTRAC has cancelled an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) from PayPal Australia Pty Ltd (PayPal) after PayPal completed a two year remediation plan to improve its systems and controls relating to international funds transfer instructions (IFTIs).

AUSTRAC has closed Gold Corporation’s Enforceable Undertaking (EU), which was put in place after a series of AUSTRAC and third party reviews identified non-compliance with the AML/CTF Act.

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.