Australian Banks Take 'Decisive Action' to Disrupt Transactions Supporting Illicit Tobacco Trade, Austrac Says
Australia's banks took "decisive action" to disrupt the financial flows supporting the country's illicit tobacco trade after Austrac and the Illicit Tobacco and E-Cigarette (ITEC) Commissioner asked them to strengthen monitoring and reporting under their existing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations, the regulator said in a Tuesday statement.They asked lenders to scrutinize high-risk transactions linked to tobacco retailers, including cash deposits and EFTPOS activity, according to Austrac Chief Executive Brendan Thomas.Almost 90% of banks and authorized deposit taking institutions responded to Austrac's request, per the statement, and around 20% of the reporting entities exited high-risk customers with exposure to illicit tobacco, while others imposed enhanced controls and monitoring arrangements to manage identified risks.Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (ASX:CBA) shares gained about 1% in recent Tuesday trade, ANZ Group Holdings' (ASX:ANZ, NZE:ANZ) Australia shares shed 1%, and Westpac Banking's (ASX:WBC, NZE:WBC) Australia shares fell 2%.
