NAB says Australian regulator probing bank's compliance with anti-money laundering laws

[BENGALURU] National Australia Bank on Monday said Australia's financial crime regulator has begun an investigation after it identified serious concerns with the bank's compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.

Concerns over "potential serious and ongoing non-compliance"with customer identification procedures, customer due diligence and compliance have been referred to AUSTRAC's enforcement team, which has initiated a formal investigation, the lender said.

NAB had self-reported shortcomings in its anti-money laundering systems to authorities in the past and was engaging with the regulator since on strengthening its processes.

AUSTRAC has not made any decision about whether or not enforcement action would be taken and was not considering civil penalty proceedings at this stage, which was "reflective of the work undertaken" by NAB to date, the lender said.

NAB said it would continue to cooperate with the regulator in its investigations.

"NAB takes its financial crime obligations seriously. We are very aware that we need to further improve our performance in relation to these matters. We have been working to improve and clearly have more to do," chief executive officer Ross McEwan said.

REUTERS