Apparently, over 99.999999% of the 23m alleged unreported transactions were for nothing illegal and just ordinary people transferring small amounts of money to relatives or making payments for online shopping. Why should anyone get fined for that? Commsec was different, they allowed people to deposit large amounts of money into cash-deposit-machines for money laundering purposes, which was clearly a breach of money laundering laws that require mandatory reporting of any deposits larger that 10k.
AUSTRAC also has a responsibility to educate and instruct the banks on how to report international money transfers, which is their main job. So why don't they get fined or sacked for being asleep at the wheel and not doing their job?
If WBC was unaware that they were doing anything wrong at the time, and were not deliberately facilitating any illegal activities, then they are not culpable and should not be fined at all. That's the law - it requires intent.
Besides, most of the transactions were done by CityBank via Westpac. So why should Westpac get fined and not CityBank? Clearly, this is about nothing more than helping the gov deliver a surplus, and if this went to court it would take decades muddle through and the gov needs the money now. So, expect the out-of-court settlement to be small and what Westpac is happy with.
WBC Price at posting:
$24.20 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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