Anti-money laundering resources

Draft anti-money laundering legislation has now been released for public consultation until Thursday 13 April 2006.

As the proposed law interacts with other existing Commonwealth laws, this post consolidates various links for easy reference.

AUSTRAC has set up its own AML site.

Attorney-General's AML Reform Online

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005 (Exposure Draft 13/12/05)

Overview of the exposure Bill   PDF

Summary of the exposure Bill  PDF

Sample AML/CTF Rule: AML/CTF Programs  PDF  -  Guidelines  PDF

Sample AML/CTF Rule: Suspicious matters   PDF  -  Guidelines  PDF

Sample AML/CTF Rule: Customer identification  -  Guidelines  PDF

Industry specific questions and answers

  • Accountants and financial planners  PDF
  • Banks, building societies and credit unions  PDF
  • Bullion dealers  PDF
  • Bureaux de change  PDF
  • Casinos PDF
  • Gambling service providers  PDF
  • Insurance sector PDF
  • Remittance service providers  PDF
  • Legal practitioners  PDF
  • Securities and derivatives dealers   PDF

  • AML/CTF Rules  PDF

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, "Customer Due Diligence for Banks"     (October 2001), "General Guide to Account Opening and Customer Identification" (February 2003) and "Consolidated KYC Risk Management" (October 2004)

OTHER LEGISLATION

December 28, 2005 in Financial services, Fraud | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

National Australia Bank case study

The discovery of foreign exchange losses at NAB in early 2004 and the way in which the Bank responded provides a good case study of an organisation which had a breakdown in its compliance culture and what it has done to fix it.

This note provides a link to key documents in chronological order.

2 February 2004: National Australia Bank Chief Executive Frank Cicutto resigned following disclosure that the Bank could lose up to $360 million in foreign exchange trading losses. The Board immediately appoints a new CEO.

The forex scandal followed a number of losses at NAB which raised questions about the effectiveness of its risk management systems, controls and internal reporting.

16 February 2004: National Australia Bank Chair Charles Allen resigned and Graham Kraehe apponted as Chairman.

Other than stating "I believe that this action is in the best interests of the Bank and its shareholders", no explanation was given.

24 March: APRA releases its report

26 March: 7 non-executive directors request general meeting.

29 March: Mrs Walter submits request for general meetings

1 April: Blake Dawson Waldron (BDW) advised on probity and governance matters relating to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report into foreign exchange options trading losses.

2 April: The Board of Directors of the National Australia Bank announced that it has approved the formation of a committee to manage the proposed Extraordinary General Meeting and consider resolutions submitted by Mrs Catherine Walter.

6 April: Board renewal program announced

7 April: The Board announces it intends to appoint a new external auditor.

19 April: NAB announced that it will hold General Meetings of shareholders on Friday 21 May 2004.

There will be three separate meetings, as required to consider three different sets of resolutions submitted by Directors in three separate Notices served on the Company.

The first meeting will consider a resolution submitted by seven non-executive Directors on 26 March 2004 to remove one Director, Mrs Catherine Walter, as a Director of the National Australia Bank.

The second and third meetings will consider two sets of resolutions submitted by Mrs Walter on 28 March 2004 to remove all the non-executive Directors of National Australia Bank over time, to censure the Board, to request a search for a new Chairman and to express views as to re-election of non-executive directors and retirement benefits.

28 April: NAB announces it has received a request from one of its Directors, Mrs Catherine Walter, to release a copy of working papers by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that were part of its inquiry into irregular foreign currency options trading earlier this year.

5 May: resignation of 2 NAB directors announced

6 May: Mrs Walter announces resignation

7 May: NAB announces cancellation of SGM's.

21 June: Michael Chaney appointed to Board and will be Chairman from September 2005.

2005: 17 June Jail Term for NAB Trader

October 2, 2005 in Compliance toolkit, Financial services, Fraud | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How do you respond to discovery of a fraud and privacy breach?

Choicepoint's  response to its recent discovery of a fraud by which customers of its database service service stole the identities of up to 145,000 persons listed on the database seemed to have been well considered and open.

It caused a renewed privacy debate and the share price dropped but the response itself was not criticised.

However, now comes news (via Byrne's Marketview) that top executives started selling shares before the fraud became public!

March 1, 2005 in Compliance toolkit, Fraud, Privacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack