Westpac warned for AML failures

Geoff Bascand.

Under the AML/CFT Act, banks are required to report transactions (including international wire transfers of $1,000 or more) to the Police Financial Intelligence Unit, says Reserve Bank deputy governor and general manager of financial stability Geoff Bascand.

He says Westpac set up its prescribed transaction reporting (PTR) systems in a way that failed to detect and report all eligible international wire transfers, resulting in it failing to report almost 8000 corporate transactions to overseas recipients between July 2018 and February 2019.

“This formal warning reflects the importance of the prescribed transaction reporting regime in building an intelligence picture across New Zealand’s financial system, and reiterates the seriousness with which we view non-compliance with the AML/CFT Act,” Bascand says.

The formal warning comes as the Reserve Bank releases its findings from its survey of all New Zealand registered banks correspondent banking, prescribed transaction reporting, and transaction monitoring.