The director-general of the Commonwealth Bank, the biggest australian bank, will resign, announced on Monday 14 August the establishment, suspected violations of laws against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The chief executive, Ian Narev, “will leave office by the end of the fiscal year 2018”, said in a press release the president of the Commonwealth Bank, Catherine Livingstone.
The calls for the resignation of Mr Narev increased last week, after the service of the financial intelligence Austrac has opened an investigation against the bank, accused of having failed to provide it with reports on more than 53,000 cases of cash transactions of more than aus $ 10,000 each, conducted in the automata.
The total of these transactions, carried out between November 2012 and September 2015, would 624,7 million australian dollars (495 million euros).
The director-general of the Commonwealth Bank, 50 years of age, had at first assured that he would remain in his position, but the president explained Monday that the bank wanted to put an end to speculation about his future.
The press release, “provides this clarity and will enable him to focus, as a CEO, on the successful management of the activities” of the bank by his departure, assured Catherine Livingstone. Mr Narev was become in December 2011, the director-general of the Commonwealth, which he had joined in 2007.
To a fine colossal ?
The Commonwealth Bank is in the viewfinder of the intelligence service Austrac, but also of the regulator of companies in australia, the Commission of securities and investments (Asic). The latter has opened an investigation to find out whether the bank has complied with its disclosure obligations and company law.
The bank is also accused of not reporting in time, if any, of financial transactions, suspicious to 77 million australian dollars. She has not put in place monitoring of certain clients, even after having been alerted to the possibility of money laundering, according to Austrac.
Each violation could be worth to the bank a fine of 18 million australian dollars (12 million euros) so that the final bill could be colossal.
The Commonwealth has published in the beginning of August a net annual profit record of 9.93 billion australian dollars (6.7 billion euros), during its fiscal year offset ended on 30 June.
(With AFP)
