Australian banks copped $1.3 billion in infringements over the past year
Australian banks paid the second highest amount of fines from regulators by value in 2020, according to a global survey that ranked US banks in first place.
As reported in the Financial Review, the survey conducted by Finbold found US banks were hit with $14.42 billion worth of fines over the past 12 months, while Australian banks racked up $1.3 billion. According to the survey, the total amount of infringements paid by banks around the world almost doubled from $11.8 billion in 2019 to $19.9 billion in 2020.
Goldman Sachs bore the brunt of the US tally, paying $8.8 billion in penalties for its role in the 1MDB scandal, reported the Financial Review, while US banks Wells Fargo and JP Morgan came in second and third place, paying $3.9 billion and $1.3 billion in fines respectively.
Westpac’s $1.3 billion settlement with AUSTRAC came in just below the US giants and Israel’s largest bank Hapoalim followed closely behind, with a $1.2 billion fine related to hiding customer funds from the IRS.
According to the Financial Review, breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws featured strongly in the list of biggest fines.
