In a statement to the ASX this morning, the bank referred to a Federal Court order made on 22 March 2018 that mediation between the two parties occur by 25 May 2018, in relation to allegations AUSTRAC made against the bank.
“The parties have been engaged in mediation and discussions are continuing,” the statement said.
The mediations relate to Federal Court proceedings taken against the bank by AUSTRAC for more than 53,000 alleged contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006.
At CBA’s annual general meeting last year, chairman Catherine Livingstone said it was “clear that the bank was deficient in aspects of its compliance with AUSTRAC’s regulations,” conceding that the civil proceedings “has damaged our reputation: with customers, shareholders, regulators and government”.
“As chairman, and on behalf of the board, I apologise sincerely for this deficiency and its consequence,” Ms Livingstone said in November.
In December 2017, AUSTRAC expanded its list of alleged contraventions, 89 of which the major bank denied.
The Commonwealth Bank acknowledged some of these contraventions had occurred, but contested some of the accusations made in both AUSTRAC’s first and second list of breaches.
