Commonwealth Bank takes $700 million hit

COMMONWEALTH Bank has agreed to pay $700 million and legal costs after admitting to breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.

COMMONWEALTH Bank has agreed to pay $700 million and legal costs to resolve proceedings brought by AUSTRAC after admitting to breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.

Chief executive Matt Comym said that the settlement “brings certainty to one of the most significant issues we have faced”.

“While not deliberate, we fully appreciate the seriousness of the mistakes we made. Our agreement today is a clear acknowledgement of our failures and is an important step towards moving the bank forward. On behalf of Commonwealth Bank, I apologise to the community for letting them down.”

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Matt Comyn became the new CEO of the Commonwealth Bank this year. Picture: James Croucher

AUSTRAC launched proceedings in August last year, claiming CBA had breached anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism-financing laws by failing to monitor tens of thousands of transactions through its smart ATM network.

The intelligent deposit machines were launched in 2012 without appropriate coding that would automatically send legally required reports for cash transactions of more than $10,000 to the regulator.

In mid-2015, AUSTRAC asked CBA for several missing transaction reports, which led the bank to discover it had failed to send the reports.

The agreement, which includes $2.5 million in legal fees, is subject to Federal Court approval.

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Originally published as Commonwealth Bank takes $700 million hit