2 May 2016
Sydney, 2 May 2016: The Australian Bankers’ Association has today welcomed recommendations to better protect our economy from organised crime and terrorism financing.
ABA Chief Executive Steven Münchenberg said: “We support the Attorney General Department’s findings to strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) legislation.
“Most importantly, this means extending the laws to include high-risk sectors such as lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, and trust and company service providers,” he said.
“Widening the regulatory net will help fight money laundering in Australia and put us in line with international best practice.
“It would also help businesses that do report under AML/CTF laws to meet their compliance obligations,” he said.
“Australia’s banks have a key role in preventing the serious crimes of money laundering and terrorism financing. We will continue to work with AUSTRAC and the Attorney General’s Department to implement these reforms for the benefit of all Australians,” Mr Münchenberg said.
ENDS
Contact: Stephanie Arena 0477 470 677 or Nic Frankham 0435 963 913
Latest news
“The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes the agreement reached today on the proposed safeguard mechanism reforms, given it paves the way for the passing of a critical piece of legislation for Australia.
“This is about engaging with the entire banking ecosystem in order to ensure the accessibility of the sector’s services are best serving our diverse community now, and into the future.”
“What is underpinning this bank failure is a number of things, but not least of all, it’s a very niche bank with high exposure to one part of the economy. And that’s the part of the economy that’s been quite volatile and troubled”