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CBA, Australian regulator reach A$700M settlement in money laundering case

Commonwealth Bank of Australia agreed to pay a penalty of A$700 million to settle money laundering charges filed by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, or AUSTRAC.

The bank reached the settlement with AUSTRAC following a court-ordered mediation between the two parties. As part of the agreement, CBA will shoulder AUSTRAC's legal costs of A$2.5 million.

The bank also admitted to further contraventions of the country's anti-money laundering act, including contraventions in risk procedures, reporting, monitoring and customer due diligence, according to a June 4 release.

The agreement is subject to court approval. If approved, it would be the largest civil penalty imposed on a company in Australia, AUSTRAC said in a separate release.

In August 2017, AUSTRAC alleged the bank made more than 53,700 contraventions of the law, particularly regarding its use of intelligent deposit machines. The regulator later expanded its claims to include 100 more alleged contraventions against CBA. The bank denied most of the claims prior to the settlement agreement.