(Reuters) – Australian regulators have over the recent years fined a slew of companies over breaches and non-compliance issues, with the country’s “Big Four” banks penalised the heaviest over money laundering and plenty of other charges.
Here are some of the major penalties imposed by the regulators:
AMP LTD
Troubled Australian wealth manager AMP Ltd was fined a court-mandated penalty of A$24 million in May for billing dead clients for insurance and financial advice.
ANZ GROUP HOLDINGS
An Australian court fined the country’s fourth-largest bank, ANZ Group Holdings, A$10 million in penalties in March for non-compliance with consumer credit protection laws in a case that stems from the Royal Commission proceedings.
In October 2022, ANZ was penalised A$25 million for failing to provide certain benefits it had agreed to give customers.
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s biggest lender, in June 2018 agreed to pay a penalty of A$700 million to settle money laundering charges brought by Australia’s financial intelligence agency.
In October 2022, CBA’s trading unit was fined A$20 million for compliance failures in delivering financial services.
CROWN RESORTS
On May 30, Crown Resorts and Australia’s financial crime regulator agreed to a A$450 million penalty after the casino operator failed to prevent money laundering and criminal activity at its casinos.
Crown was also fined A$120 million by the state of Victoria in November last year for serious misconduct and breaches including failure to prevent gambling harm.
Separately, the state fined Crown A$80 million in May last year for enabling illegal transfer of funds from China.
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK
National Australia Bank, the country’s second-largest bank, was charged A$18.5 million penalty in August 2021 by a court for issuing misleading fee disclosure statements or none at all.
STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
The Queensland government in December 2022 slapped penalties totalling A$100 million on Star Entertainment after findings proved that the casino operator did not meet certain regulatory requirements.
TABCORP HOLDINGS
In March 2017, Tabcorp was ordered to pay a A$45-million civil penalty on non-compliance with the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law.
TLOU ENERGY LTD
In October 2022, Australia’s corporate watchdog imposed a fine of A$53,280 on Tlou Energy over allegations of ‘greenwashing’, or exaggerated claims regarding environmentally friendly investments, making it the regulator’s first time to crack down on such a misconduct.
TELECOM FIRMS
Three Australian telecom firms: Telstra Group, a unit of TPG Telecom, and Optus, a unit of Singapore Telecommunications, were ordered by a court to pay a collective A$33.5 million in penalties for making misleading claims about the speed of some NBN internet plans.
WESTPAC BANKING CORP
Australia’s third-biggest lender, Westpac Banking Corp was ordered to pay A$113 million in penalties in April 2022 for multiple compliance failures across its businesses.
In September 2020, Westpac was slapped with a record A$1.3 billion fine to settle a lawsuit accusing it of enabling millions of payments to people exploiting children.
(Compiled by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
