It didn’t meet its obligation to report IFTIs to AUSTRAC (litepay).
Even if the IFTIs were reported to AUSTRAC, there were insufficient programs in place to identify and report such transactions to austrac that were suspicious (for live streaming child exploitation).
The bank simply put, did f all about financial crime and protecting the greater community. Profits over people.
This all happened about 4 years after the $39 share price. It was about $25 at the time when the litepay scandal hit the news. It’s now $30.
It has received a 50% reduction in the fine for implementing better risk management. It is also suing insurers for the remainder of the fine.
Does WBC maintain its position as the highest on the high score leaderboard for corporate fines in Australian History? Yes…will it face future fines…it’s a bank, so I would personally expect this. The root cause of the lite pay scandal was poor risk culture. Reports show that little has changed.
And when it does get another fine…and the stock price drops, I’ll be there ready to buy up big. It doesn’t make any money from reporting financial crimes, Westpac makes its money from funding others to purchase property - I have every faith in Australian property and therefore have every faith in WBC.
WBC Price at posting:
$30.13 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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