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AUSTRAC

This Month

Lend Lease Chief Executive Steve McCann.

Star’s Steve McCann, newly married, still sweating on big payday

While Steve McCann can certainly afford a blowout, weddings are expensive. And the Star chief’s payday is far from assured.

June

Know your customer: The rules for real estate agents are tightening.

No ID? New anti-money laundering rules won’t stop agents making deals

Ahead of the reforms next year, the regulator has to walk a fine line between enforcing the rules and not hindering the real estate industry.

Real Estate Institute of Australia president Leanne Pilkington.

Anti-money laundering crackdown presents risks for real estate

The time it will take to retool a highly fragmented service industry to crack down on financial crime - and compliance costs - is an issue.

Star is pleading with the court for a smaller fine.

Star Entertainment says $100m is all it has for AUSTRAC penalty

The financial crime watchdog says the court should disregard casino operator’s threat that it would collapse under the weight of a $400 million fine.

Star Entertainment is in court with AUSTRAC.

Star pleads for mercy in AUSTRAC money laundering case

The casino group is arguing it has limited capacity to pay a penalty for alleged money laundering offences lobbed against it by the financial crime watchdog.

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May

The median total pay gap across the public service was 7.2 per cent in favour of male public servants. Yet, some of the nation’s most powerful regulators and bodies exceeded that level.

Reserve Bank, Future Fund register big gender pay gaps

Money laundering regulator AUSTRAC is a notable exception when it comes to the big financial agencies, reporting no median gender pay gap.

April

CBA customer wanted to buy $30k in bitcoin. The bank wouldn’t let him

Listen to recordings of Andrew Broadbent’s calls with CBA, which refused to let him make a transfer to buy $30,000 in bitcoin.

February

AUSTRAC boss Brendan Thomas says cryptocurrency exchanges can be a hotbed for money laundering.

Money laundering watchdog puts 50 Australian crypto exchanges on notice

The Australian Securities and Transactions Analysis Centre is concerned some Australian cryptocurrency exchanges are failing to report suspicious transactions.

January

Star chief executive Steve McCann has already secured first creditor status.

Star has six weeks to find financing as NSW, Queensland rule out help

The company, which operates casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, has been burning through cash faster than the market expected as gamblers stay away.

ATO boss Rob Heferen would be empowered to share taxpayer information more broadly, under new Treasury proposals.

Government floats loosening ATO secrecy on money-laundering, takeovers

The proposals are the latest in the government’s ongoing response to the PwC tax leaks scandal.

December 2024

The gaming floor at Crown Resorts’ Sydney casino. The company is now allowed to operate poker machines, however.

Crown Resorts wants to add pokies to the mix at its Sydney casino

The Blackstone-owned hospitality and gambling giant has been prohibited from installing gaming machines under terms struck when it secured its NSW licence.

Entain is the owner of Ladbrokes.

AUSTRAC sues Ladbrokes and Neds owner

Entain allegedly did not conduct appropriate checks on 17 high-risk customers and deliberately obscured the identity of some through use of pseudonyms.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas.

Tough new dirty money rules to disrupt $60b in criminal activity

The head of Australia’s financial crime watchdog says gaps in anti-money laundering and terror financing rules have been exploited by criminals for too long.

November 2024

The government has been warned the plan will further punish potential homebuyers.

Why buying and selling a home is about to cost $1200 more

Amid Australia’s growing housing crisis, a new crackdown on money laundering is expected to add significant extra costs to property transactions.

Bar associations are brandishing legal advice as they argue against Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ AML/CTF reforms.

Barristers brand anti-money-laundering laws ‘unconstitutional’

Bar associations have leant on advice from a former High Court judge in their latest effort to carve out an exemption to AML/CTF reforms.

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Bar associations are upset with Attorney General Mark Dreyfus’ anti-money laundering bill.

Barristers seek exemption from tougher money-laundering laws

Bar associations are concerned draft AML/CTF legislation will force them to conduct due diligence on clients already conducted by instructing solicitors.

October 2024

BOQ shares were up 4 per cent to $6.52 shortly after trading opened as the market digested the better than expected result.

BoQ accused of short-changing franchisees in buyout

BoQ undervalued franchisee shopfronts in a corporate takeover push and artificially deflated commission payments, a letter to the board alleges.

Labor, Coalition clash over laws for lawyers, accountants, realtors

Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash roundly criticised plans to expand anti-money laundering laws to the three professions.

August 2024

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson.

Business CEOs push back on political grandstanding

Big business makes mistakes as well as money, but chief executives like CBA’s Matt Comyn and Wesfarmers’ Rob Scott are pushing back against “fact-free” accusations.

Bank of Queensland chief Patrick Allaway told staff, “the executive team has made difficult but necessary decisions”.

Business model unsustainable, says BoQ, as it sacks 400 staff

The regional lender will take control of a long-standing franchise network in a $160 million bet on its survival.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/australian-transaction-reports-and-analysis-centre-1n7r