AML/CTF Reform Update Webinar

AUSTRAC has ordered the appointment of an external auditor to assess whether payment platform, Airwallex Designated Business Group (Airwallex DBG), is meeting its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) obligations, following concerns about potential non-compliance.

AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer, Brendan Thomas, said external audits are a critical regulatory tool to assess serious compliance concerns and to protect the financial system from criminal exploitation.

“We take this action where we suspect serious non-compliance, because we expect businesses to be actively managing their AML/CTF obligations,” Mr Thomas said.

“Strong compliance systems and timely reporting of suspicious activity are essential to disrupting criminal activities and illicit proceeds of crime generated from fraud, scams, illicit tobacco, drug trafficking and payments relating to crimes such as child sexual exploitation.”

“As a global payment platform that facilitates the transfer of funds to multiple jurisdictions, AUSTRAC is concerned with Airwallex’s transaction monitoring program has not been attuned to the full range of risks it faces and that the company hasn’t demonstrated an acceptable understanding of who its customers are and what reporting may be required.

“Our concerns also extend to how well Airwallex identifies and reports on suspicious matters and the effective oversight of these important obligations.”

The auditor, appointed under section 162 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, will examine whether the business is complying with key AML/CTF requirements including:

• maintaining an AML/CTF program and complying with that program
• operating an ongoing customer due diligence program
• meeting suspicious matter reporting obligations.

The auditor must report their findings to AUSTRAC within 180 days of appointment. The scope of the audit is determined by AUSTRAC and will be conducted at Airwallex DBG’s expense.

The outcomes of the audit will assist Airwallex DBG to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations and inform AUSTRAC whether any further regulatory action is required.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) notes today’s announcement by in1Bank Limited (in1Bank) that it intends to return all funds to depositors and relinquish its licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI).

The decision to relinquish its ADI licence has been taken by in1Bank.

APRA will monitor the return of all deposits to in1Bank depositors in an orderly and timely manner. During the return of deposit process, in1Bank’s depositors remain protected by the Financial Claims Scheme (FCS).

Customers with questions about deposits or accounts should contact in1Bank directly.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has identified opportunities for Australian Government agencies to improve transparency in the use of automated decision-making (ADM). ADM refers to the use of technology to automate decision-making processes. It is used across government in areas such as social services, taxation, aged care and veterans’ entitlements.

Australian Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Tydd said “Information about decision-making and the exercise of agencies functions is important information for the Australian community. It improves integrity, accountability and trust. The Information Publication Scheme (IPS) requires this type of information to be available to the public. The intended benefit of this Report is to inject clarity and certainty for agencies and the community regarding the operation of the Australian access to information scheme in the context of digital government.”

The OAIC’s latest Report, Automated decision-making and public reporting under the Freedom of Information Act, follows a desktop review conducted in October 2025 of the websites of 23 government agencies authorised to use ADM. The review assessed how agencies disclose their use of ADM as ‘operational information’ required to be published under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). The Report acknowledges that technology has altered the operating environment of agencies and greater guidance is required to ensure that agencies are well placed to meet their existing obligations.

Australian Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Tydd said “The OAIC will begin consultation to update the Information Commissioner Guidelines as a priority in 2026.”

The Report highlights good practice but also opportunities for improvement for agencies to meet their obligations under the FOI Act to proactively publish information through the IPS. The Report also highlights the positive impact existing IPS obligations have in ensuring that transparency and accountability of actions and decisions are improved in the Australian Public Service under the Commonwealth Integrity Strategy– external site .

Wednesday 4 March 2026 | 2.00 pm – 7.00 pm | International Convention Centre Sydney

From quantum computing and AI to tokenisation, technology is reshaping markets. Asia Pacific is home to dynamic, digitally native markets and proactive cross border collaboration.

Join us for a discussion on the role regulation will play in promoting innovation and what it takes to safeguard stability amid rapid disruption.

Regulators, market leaders and innovators will unpack the opportunities, risks and policy responses that will define the next decade. Be part of the conversation setting the pace for resilient, fair and efficient markets.

Coinciding with ASIC’s 35th anniversary, the Symposium is a milestone opportunity to reflect on developments in financial services.

ASIC has secured the return of nearly $40 million to more than 38,000 retail investors and driven substantial compliance improvement across Australia’s contracts for difference (CFD) sector following a whole of industry review.

CFDs allow investors to speculate on the price movements of assets such as shares, currencies or commodities, without owning them. Between October 2024 and December 2025, ASIC reviewed 52 licensed CFD issuers, requiring them to show how they were distributing their high-risk products.

In the report, Risky business: Driving change in CFD issuers’ distribution practices (REP 828), ASIC found widespread weaknesses in how CFD issuers complied with their design and distribution obligations (DDO), ASIC’s CFD product intervention order (PIO) and regulatory reporting requirements.

ASIC found that more than half the CFD sector had contravened the PIO by offering ‘margin discounts’ to retail clients who took on opposing long and short positions. These investors incurred higher funding costs but could not profit from their opposing CFD positions.

The SPF creates world leading protections against scams. It creates new obligations and rules for certain businesses in sectors targeted by scammers.

Related content

• Scams Prevention Framework – exposure draft legislation
• Scams – mandatory industry codes consultation

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has imposed additional licence conditions on Diversa Trustees Limited (Diversa) to address prudential concerns relating to its investment governance frameworks and practices, including oversight of platform investment options made available to members.

Diversa acts as trustee for 10 registrable superannuation entities and has approximately 291,000 member accounts and over $15 billion in funds under management.

The additional licence conditions follow APRA’s recent thematic review of the investment governance, strategic planning and member outcomes practices of superannuation trustees that offer platforms (Platform Trustees). Broadly, the review identified deficiencies in Diversa’s onboarding processes and practices, investment option monitoring and reporting, and management of conflicts of interest.

Specifically, APRA’s review of Diversa identified concerns regarding the:

• onboarding of new investment options, including the lack of sufficiently rigorous, well-defined and consistently applied investment selection criteria;
• adequacy of operational due diligence undertaken in relation to new investment options; and
• adequacy of Diversa’s investment monitoring and reporting framework.

APRA requires assurance, with appropriate oversight by an independent expert, that Diversa’s investment governance framework and practices are fit for purpose in their design and operation.

So called ‘pump and dump’ operators – unscrupulous actors who start rumours about small cap securities to inflate the share price in the hope of making a quick profit, are increasingly targeting Australian investors ahead of the holiday period, with a notable rise in reports to the regulator.

ASIC is warning the public to be vigilant about widespread, coordinated pump and dump schemes targeting retail investors, including Australians trading in overseas markets, who can be tricked into buying thinly traded overseas stocks that are then rapidly sold down by the promoters once the price has been inflated.

ASIC has also observed scammers fraudulently using the identity of Australian celebrities to lure victims into messaging apps like WhatsApp where they are directed to buy shares.

This warning comes as four people involved in a coordinated scheme to pump up Australian share prices, before dumping them at inflated prices were sentenced today in Downing Street Court.

The Federal Court has ordered Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) pay $250 million in penalties for widespread misconduct and systemic risk failures affecting the Australian Government, taxpayers and at least 65,000 retail bank customers.

These are the largest combined penalties ASIC has ever secured against a single entity.

His Honour Justice Jonathan Beach increased the penalty for ANZ’s inaccurate reporting of secondary bond market turnover data by $10 million, bringing the penalty in relation to that misconduct to $50 million.

The outcome is in relation to four separate court proceedings spanning misconduct across ANZ’s Institutional and Retail divisions, announced in September 2025 (25-201MR).

The Federal Court has ordered Australian financial services licensee RM Capital Pty Ltd to pay a $575,000 penalty and its authorised representative The SMSF Club Pty Ltd to pay a $350,000 penalty over conflicted remuneration breaches.

The penalties follow a Federal Court finding in February 2024 that RM Capital had failed to take reasonable steps between August 2013 and August 2016 to ensure that SMSF Club did not accept conflicted remuneration.

The Court also made findings that on multiple occasions between November 2014 and July 2016 SMSF Club accepted conflicted remuneration. It found that SMSF Club received a total of $135,863.65 in referral fees from real estate agent Positive RealEstate Pty Ltd (for assisting SMSF Club clients to set up a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) and purchase property from Positive RealEstate.

The referral fees were paid as part of a referral agreement between SMSF Club and Positive Real Estate. On each occasion it accepted a referral fee, SMSF Club breached the provision of the Corporations Act which prohibits an authorised representative from accepting conflicted remuneration.

As the licensee that authorised SMSF Club to provide financial services, RM Capital contravened s963F of the Corporations Act by failing to take reasonable steps to ensure SMSF Club did not accept the payments.

ASIC has banned Melbourne-based financial adviser Louis Van Coppenhagen from providing financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business or performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business for 7 years.

ASIC found that Mr Van Coppenhagen, while authorised by MWL Financial Services Pty Ltd (MWL), gave inappropriate advice to certain clients which was not in their best interests. Mr Van Coppenhagen recommended certain MWL clients invest most of their superannuation into the ‘High Growth’ or ‘Growth’ class of the Shield Master Fund (Shield) which were high risk investments.

ASIC also found that Mr Van Coppenhagen, while authorised by United Global Capital Pty Ltd (UGC), was instrumental to the implementation of UGC’s advice model including preparing a template Advice Proposal Document. ASIC cancelled UGC’s licence for providing conflicted personal advice concerning highly speculative investments.

ASIC has reason to believe that Mr Van Coppenhagen is not a fit and proper person, is not competent and is likely to contravene a financial services law.

The banning order took effect from 16 December 2025.

Macquarie Securities (Australia) Limited (MSAL) has admitted to misleading conduct in relation to the misreporting millions of short sales over several years, caused by repeated failures in its systems and processes.

ASIC has today released a series of updates to improve and simplify its regulatory guidance on complying with technological and operational resilience rules for market participants and market operators.

Resilient market participants and market operators are essential to the integrity of our securities and futures markets and to the efficient functioning of the economy.

The updates are the third stage of ASIC’s work to review and clarify guidance relating to Chapters 8A and 8B of the ASIC Market Integrity Rules (Securities Markets) 2017 and the ASIC Market Integrity Rules (Futures Markets) 2017 (Resilience Rules) set out in:

• Regulatory Guide 265 Guidance on ASIC market integrity rules for participants of securities markets (RG 265)
• Regulatory Guide 266 Guidance on ASIC market integrity rules for participants of futures markets (RG 266), and
• Regulatory Guide 172 Financial markets: Domestic and overseas operators (RG 172).

The updates align with ASIC’s commitment to regulatory simplification and include changes to reduce repetition and the length of guidance, as well as structural improvements. Further, the updates:

• incorporate guidance on arrangements for identifying critical business services previously shared in September 2024 in a letter to participants
• give certainty that critical business services arrangements may leverage existing resilience frameworks, including service provider’s business continuity plans and redundancy arrangements for outsourcing arrangements, where suitable
• confirm that, in some situations, full redundancy arrangements may not be required for all critical business services
• clarify thresholds for identifying and reporting major events to ASIC
• remove referenced to superseded APRA standards and guidance.

The updates also incorporate class waivers ASIC granted in August 2025 to provide relief from some requirements for outsourcing arrangements where supply of energy or communications services were identified as critical business services.

APRA and AUSTRAC have both announced actions to address weaknesses in Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s (Bendigo Bank) money laundering risk management, non‑financial risk management practices and risk culture.

It follows the findings of an independent review undertaken by Deloitte into suspected money laundering at a Bendigo Bank branch, which the bank reported to AUSTRAC. This independent review found significant deficiencies with Bendigo Bank’s approach to the identification, mitigation and management of money laundering and terrorism financing risk.

APRA is concerned that the weaknesses identified by that investigation may be applicable across the bank’s operations more broadly. AUSTRAC shares APRA’s concerns.

As a result, APRA and AUSTRAC are today announcing the following actions, which are coordinated to ensure Bendigo Bank intensifies its efforts to strengthen its non-financial risk management systems and practices:

• APRA will require Bendigo Bank to undertake a root cause analysis to understand the extent of non-financial risk management issues at the bank, going beyond money laundering and terrorism financing;
• APRA will require Bendigo Bank to hold an operational risk capital add-on of $50 million; and
• AUSTRAC has commenced an enforcement investigation which will focus on whether Bendigo Bank has complied with its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act).

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has imposed additional licence conditions on Equity Trustees Superannuation Limited (ETSL) to address prudential concerns relating to its investment governance frameworks and practices, including oversight of platform investment options made available to members.

ETSL acts as trustee for 11 registrable superannuation entities (RSEs) and has approximately 649,000 member accounts and over $37 billion in funds under management.

The additional licence conditions follow APRA’s recent thematic review of the investment governance, strategic planning and member outcomes practices of superannuation trustees that offer platforms (‘Platform Trustees’). Broadly, the review identified deficiencies in ETSL’s onboarding processes and practices, including adequacy of investment selection criteria and due diligence, as well as investment option monitoring and reporting frameworks, and management of conflicts of interest.

Specifically, APRA’s review of ETSL identified concerns regarding:

• onboarding of new investment options to ensure they are assessed consistently, are in the best financial interests of members, and appropriately manage conflicts of interest;
• adequate knowledge, operational and investment due diligence undertaken in relation to new investment options;
• identifying key risks, and ensuring independent analysis of information received from investment managers and external research and rating agencies; and
• the adequacy of investment monitoring and reporting to identify and manage higher risk investment options.

Under the additional licence conditions, effective 18 December 2025, ETSL is required to:

• appoint an independent expert to undertake separate reviews of its platforms’ investment menus and investment governance framework;
• develop and implement an uplift plan to address identified gaps, and provide APRA with assurance or attestation that the remediation actions are complete and effective; and
• undertake a further review of its investment menu against the enhanced investment governance requirements to determine ongoing suitability of each investment option.

ETSL must also refrain from onboarding certain new high-risk investment options to its platform until an independent expert confirms the option has gone through the uplifted onboarding process and an accountable person attests that all reasonable steps were taken to ensure the option is in members’ best financial interests.

Netwealth has agreed to pay over $100 million in compensation to more than 1,000 Australians who invested their superannuation in the First Guardian Master Fund and has admitted it contravened the Corporations Act.

ASIC has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against Netwealth Superannuation Services Pty Ltd (NSS) and Netwealth Investments Limited (NIL), as trustees of the Netwealth Superannuation Master Fund (NSMF).

NSS and NIL have admitted they failed to obtain and therefore did not assess sufficient information about the First Guardian Master Fund, or make sufficient independent enquiries, to understand or evaluate the investment risk in the First Guardian Diversified Class and Growth Class prior to or while offering them as investment options to NSMF members.

ASIC will seek orders that NSS and NIL failed to do all things necessary to ensure that the financial services covered by their financial services licences were provided efficiently, honestly and fairly.

ASIC has also accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from NSS and NIL to ensure members are compensated 100% of the amounts they invested in First Guardian less any amounts withdrawn. The compensation payments will be made by 30 January 2026.

Share your views on the review of the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox (ERS).

This consultation asks for views on:

• sources of and barriers to financial innovation in Australia
• how effective the ERS is
• how the ERS could better support financial innovation.

Your feedback will inform the review’s final report to government.

The ERS allows individuals or businesses to test innovative financial services or credit activities. They do not need an Australian financial services licence or Australian credit licence to use the ERS.

The ERS was introduced in 2020. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) administers it.

ASIC has today updated its regulatory guidance on managing conflicts of interest for Australian financial services businesses.

The changes align our guidance with developments in law and policy and draw on ASIC’s regulatory experience and insights from its surveillance of private markets.

‘Conflicts of interest aren’t just ethical dilemmas. They pose real threats that erode trust, tarnish reputations, and cause lasting harm to consumers, investors, and the entire financial ecosystem,’ ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke said.

‘Effective conflict management is more than a regulatory checkbox—it’s the cornerstone of trust in financial services.

The updated Regulatory Guide 181 AFS Licensing: Managing Conflicts of Interest (RG 181) sets out clear, principles-based guidance for Australian financial services (AFS) licensees.

It aims to help licensees fulfil their licensing obligation to have robust arrangements and tailored conflict management strategies in place.

Key updates include:

• how the law applies to conflicts of interest, including the scope of the conflicts management obligation and links to other related obligations
• the types of conflicts AFS licensees should identify and manage
• the need for robust, tailored arrangements to manage conflicts
• practical steps for effective conflict management, and
• a non-exhaustive ‘catalogue’ of related legal obligations and information.

The revised RG 181 replaces guidance issued in August 2004 and is part of ASIC’s ongoing regulatory maintenance and simplification agenda—making it easier for businesses to access regulatory information and understand their obligations.

ASIC has banned Sydney-based mortgage broker Ms Thi Hoa Trieu from engaging in credit activities, controlling another person who engages in credit activities, and performing any function involved in the engaging in of credit activities for a period of ten years.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published the Annual Superannuation Bulletin for the year ended 30 June 2025.

The annual superannuation bulletin provides an overview of the superannuation industry, and is published on an annual basis. These statistics contains information on funds and membership profile, key financial performance metrics, financial position, fees and expenses.

The publication is available on APRA’s website at: Annual superannuation bulletin