The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has announced that it has closed its investigation into possible breaches of the Banking Act 1959, including the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR), by Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac). Background.

APRA commenced the investigation in December 2019 to examine prudential concerns arising from allegations by AUSTRAC that Westpac had breached anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws. APRA’s investigation also examined the bank’s actions to rectify and remediate the issues after they were identified.

Westpac remains subject to a court-enforceable undertaking (CEU) to implement an integrated risk governance remediation plan to uplift risk governance across its business with ongoing independent review over its progress. The $1 billion operational risk capital add-on, which reflects the bank’s heightened operational risk profile, will also remain in place until Westpac completes its remediation under the CEU to APRA’s satisfaction.

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