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I'm currently reading about money laundering facilitated by Australian banks in the book "The Lucky Laundry" by Nathan Lynch. Here are some recent anti-money l

I'm currently reading about money laundering facilitated by Australian banks in the book "The Lucky Laundry" by Nathan Lynch. Here are some recent anti-money laundering law breaches: * French bank BNP Paribas - fined almost $9 Billion in 2014 [1] * Commonwealth Bank - fined $700 Million in 2018. [2] * Westpac fined $1.3 Billion fine in 2020. [3] It's pretty bad, here are just a couple of examples of the types of things going on. In the case of Commonwealth Bank they knew people would literally sit outside ATMs stuffing money into machines until they were full, and they didn't do anything about it. In the case of Westpac, due to their lack of monitoring, essentially helped facilitate child abuse transactions [4]. The banks have also gone out of their way to avoid providing required SWIFT information by routing money around it (counteracting laws put in place to avoid for example transferring money to terrorist orgs). It doesn't sound like anyone from the banking industry got arrested (surprise surprise). In the book he also talks about how the Australian Real Estate industry is filled with laundered money and how it is helping to prop up the price of housing in Australia. I'm only halfway through so assume there might be more details on this in the second half of the book. 1) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bnp-paribas-settlement-idUSKBN0F52HA20140701 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bnp-paribas-settlement-id... 2) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-04/commonwealth-bank-pay-$700-million-fine-money-laundering-breach/9831064 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-04/commonwealth-bank-pay... 3) https://www.bellgully.com/insights/westpac-agrees-to-au-1-3-billion-penalty-for-aml-breaches-what-nz-financial-institutions-need-to-know/ https://www.bellgully.com/insights/westpac-agrees-to-au-1-3-... 4) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/21/legal-breaches-allowed-westpac-customers-to-pay-for-child-sex-undetected-austrac-alleges https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/21/legal...

donavanm 4y ago
Some “fun” reading from austrac and friends https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-07/sa-brief-real-estate_0.pdf https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-07/sa-br... “Shockingly” real estate agents and solicitors arent covered by AML/KYC here. I believe the same problems with opaque beneficial ownership extends to trusts as well. Other countries have similar challenges, but at least theres some duty to report etc. Criminals may be drawn to real estate as a channel to launder illicit funds due to the: » ability to buy real estate using cash » ability to disguise the ultimate beneficial ownership of real estate » relative stability and reliability of real estate investment » ability to renovate and improve real estate, thereby increasing the value. Criminals are also motivated to buy property for further profit or lifestyle reasons. Compared to other methods, money laundering through real estate – both residential and commercial – can be relatively uncomplicated, requiring little planning or expertise. Large sums of illicit funds can be concealed and integrated into the legitimate economy through real estate.
- jamhan 4y ago
  The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) covers AML in Australia. Tranche (Part) 1 was implemented immediately. Tranche 2, covering real estate agents (among others) was supposed to follow reasonably soon after. It's now been ~17 years and it's still not implemented. [1] In those years, the Australian property market boomed and states like New South Wales with its Stamp Duty tax generated billions ($9.379 billion for the 2020-21 financial year) in revenue [2] Last week's arrests [3] are a drop in the bucket. [1] https://insight.thomsonreuters.com.au/business/posts/tranche-too-hard-australia-edges-forward-with-glacial-aml-ctf-law-reform-agenda https://insight.thomsonreuters.com.au/business/posts/tranche... [2] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-20/stamp-duty-adds-9-379-billion-to-state-budget/100229554 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-20/stamp-duty-adds-9-379... [3] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-03/afp-money-laundering-bust-highlights-real-estate-vulnerability/101923160 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-03/afp-money-laundering-...

donavanm 4y ago

Some “fun” reading from austrac and friends https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-07/sa-brief-real-estate_0.pdf https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-07/sa-br... “Shockingly” real estate agents and solicitors arent covered by AML/KYC here. I believe the same problems with opaque beneficial ownership extends to trusts as well. Other countries have similar challenges, but at least theres some duty to report etc. Criminals may be drawn to real estate as a channel to launder illicit funds due to the: » ability to buy real estate using cash » ability to disguise the ultimate beneficial ownership of real estate » relative stability and reliability of real estate investment » ability to renovate and improve real estate, thereby increasing the value. Criminals are also motivated to buy property for further profit or lifestyle reasons. Compared to other methods, money laundering through real estate – both residential and commercial – can be relatively uncomplicated, requiring little planning or expertise. Large sums of illicit funds can be concealed and integrated into the legitimate economy through real estate.

jamhan 4y ago
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) covers AML in Australia. Tranche (Part) 1 was implemented immediately. Tranche 2, covering real estate agents (among others) was supposed to follow reasonably soon after. It's now been ~17 years and it's still not implemented. [1] In those years, the Australian property market boomed and states like New South Wales with its Stamp Duty tax generated billions ($9.379 billion for the 2020-21 financial year) in revenue [2] Last week's arrests [3] are a drop in the bucket. [1] https://insight.thomsonreuters.com.au/business/posts/tranche-too-hard-australia-edges-forward-with-glacial-aml-ctf-law-reform-agenda https://insight.thomsonreuters.com.au/business/posts/tranche... [2] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-20/stamp-duty-adds-9-379-billion-to-state-budget/100229554 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-20/stamp-duty-adds-9-379... [3] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-03/afp-money-laundering-bust-highlights-real-estate-vulnerability/101923160 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-03/afp-money-laundering-...