About IABFM

Press Releases for the year 2017

Press Releases issued by the Academy, by members and partners in 2008-2009 appear below.

Press Releases generally approved for release on the association websites include:

• News about the membership
• Announcement of events for members and candidates
• News about our members in the press where IABFM™ is mentioned
• Formal announcements
• Tie ups or collaboration with other associations or government bodies
• Changes to the board governance structure

If you have a press-release you would like displayed on the member's website, please submit to [email protected].

Commonwealth Bank of Australia Charged for Failing to Comply with Anti Money Laundering Laws

August 10, 2017

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Australia’s largest company, has had a motion filed against it by the Australian Transactions and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) claiming that the CBA had failed to comply with Australia’s strict laundering and counter terrorism financing laws.

The motion before the Federal Court of Australia alleges that there have been 53,500 contraventions of the AML/CTF laws since 2012.  The majority of the transactions occurred as a result of the CBA’s introduction of Intelligent Deposit Machines (IDMs) that accept cash and cheque deposits.  The machines were targeted by money laundering syndicates and crime gangs wanting to move money offshore.  In one case between November 2014 and August 2015 cash deposits totaling $27.2 million were made to one account and then immediately transferred offshore.  The motion claims that the deposits were the proceeds of a drug importing and manufacturing syndicate.

AUSTRAC said that for a period of 3 years CBA did not comply with the requirements of its AML/CTF program relating to the monitoring of 780,000 accounts. It also alleges that the bank failed to report suspicious matters either on time or at all involving transactions totaling more than $77 million.  AUSTRAC is taking civil action against CBA for “serious and systemic non-compliance” with the relevant legislation.  The law allows for fines up to $18 million per breach which means that the potential cost could be close to $1 trillion. 

Had this action taken place in the United States CBA directors would be liable for criminal charges and imprisonment, a fact which prompted HSBC Bank to accept a fine of almost $2 billion rather than risk losing a criminal action.  One immediate response from the CBA has been to eliminate all executive bonuses for this financial year.  However, it is clear that potential criminal charges in some jurisdictions should be an additional motivator for senior management to place greater emphasis on compliance than currently exists.

Compliance Issues

March 31, 2017

TABCORP slammed with AUD$45 million penalty for anti-money laundering violations

23/03/2017/in News /by GRC Solutions

Gambling corporation TABCORP has agreed to pay AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) a AUD$45 million dollar penalty after failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. It’s the largest civil penalty ever in corporate Australia.

Federal Court judge Nye­ Perram yesterday ruled that TABCORP had contravened the Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 108 times over more than five years.

While TABCORP did not deliberately seek to mislead AUSTRAC, it has admitted it failed to report suspicious gambling activities. Examples include failing to identify a customer who won $100,000. TABCORP failed to lodge the appropriate information with the agency in the time required by law.

Another example included “credit betting incidents”, whereby a TABCORP agent approved a line of credit, which is illegal, to a customer.

“The penalty of $45 million sends an unequivocal message to the financial and gambling sectors in this country, if you don’t take your AML (anti-money laundering) and CTF (counter-terrorism financing) obligations seriously, we will take action,” AUSTRAC Chief Executive Paul Jevtovic said on Thursday.

It’s not the first time AUSTRAC has taken action against TABCORP, having previously done so in 2015.

The size of this penalty will be a wakeup call for other companies to take their money laundering and terrorism financing obligations seriously.

IABFM Africa

January 2, 2017

The IABFM is delighted to announce the formation of IABFM Africa.  In the latter part of 2016 we confirmed our commitment to providing African countries with access to the world’s premier training and certification programs through the establishment of an office in Johannesburg, South Africa and another in Nairobi, Kenya.   

As from the beginning of 2017 African organisations will be able to attend many of the more than 50 certified programs offered by and conducted directly by, the IABFM.  Unlike many programs currently offered in Africa that feature unqualified trainers and dubious certification all IABFM trainers have years of professional experience supporting their extensive training experience.   In addition, all of our certified programs are endorsed through the gilt-edge certification of the IABFM and other bodies.

We are also very excited to partner with a number of other professional organisations to extend the range of programs that we have available.  We have formed a relationship with ARC Security Training, the premier UK security-training organisation, to deliver their highly successful programs and with other professional organisations to deliver CISSP and CEH information technology programs and several others that are currently on the drawing board.

The end of January heralds a new exciting era for training programs in Africa and the IABFM, through its subsidiaries, IABFM Africa, is proud to be a part of this new era. 

The IABFM Africa offices can be contacted at:

IABFM Africa

63 Bram Fischer Drive

Randburg, Johannesburg,

South Africa

Telephone +2711 086 0610

IABFM Africa

Landmark Plaza, 13th Floor

Argwings Khodhek Rd

Nairobi

Kenya

Telephone +254 20 3673396, +254 703 041 396

Press Release Archive