Bank of Queensland Commits to Anti Money Laundering Laws and Risk Management

Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AX) disclosed that separate agreements had been reached with the country’s prudential and financial crime regulators regarding compliance pertaining to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, as well as best practices in risk governance.

Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AX) announced it had signed separate anti-money laundering agreements with monetary and corporate crime regulators on May 31st. An Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) accepted a legally enforceable undertaking following the alleged violation of regulatory benchmarks in 2022 and 2023. Additionally, APRA reported that the company understood risk management well.

APRA has required preparing a remedial action plan as part of its undertaking. In addition to describing all activities undertaken by the bank, it specifies who will be appointed as an independent reviewer.

It has also been decided that the APRA would add 50 million AUD to the operational risk capital requirement for the Bank of Queensland, which is expected to remain in place for as long as the company has not delivered a remediation plan that meets the regulator’s approval.

Earlier this month, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) announced that it had imposed a sanctions regime against the company after a compliance inspection was conducted by the regulator, following which concerns were raised regarding the effectiveness of the organisation’s anti-money laundering controls and systems.

AUSTRAC CEO, Nicole Rose, said that, “The actions undertaken by AUSTRAC and APRA in relation to BoQ highlight the whole of government efforts to maintain the integrity of Australia’s financial systems,” 

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