Reported by: Clancy Yeates

Dutch bank ING has vowed to fix its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing systems, after an investigation by financial crimes regulator Austrac found flaws in the lender’s compliance.

Austrac on Thursday said it accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from ING’s Australian business, with ING promising to beef up its reporting of suspicious transactions, its risk assessments, and its program for complying anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.

The regulator, which has previously imposed record fines on Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, said ING had identified the compliance issues and voluntarily reported them to Austrac in 2020.

Austrac said it had launched an investigation, which identified concerns in relation to Austrac’s AML/CTF program, its monitoring systems and controls, and its reporting to Austrac.

Austrac chief executive Nicole Rose said businesses needed to have robust systems for AML/CTF compliance, and pointed to ING’s co-operation with the regulator and changes it had already made to its systems.

Read full report: https://amp.theage.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/ing-slapped-with-anti-money-laundering-enforceable-undertaking-20221124-p5c0w9.html