Thanks CompliReg for the shout out - ​https://complireg.com/blogs--insights/peter-oakes-in-top-10-regtech-influencers-planet-compliance

​Australian Bank giant Westpac is expecting to fork out more than $1 billion as a result of its money laundering scandal and admitting to 23 million anti-money laundering breaches.

It's not just story about culture, conduct risk and financial crime risks.  Far more importantly, it is a story of shame, leadership failure and financial pain for Westpac and relief for another Aussie bank.
 
The fine would be the biggest corporate fine in Australian history. Westpac has revealed it expects the ongoing AUSTRAC investigation will cost it $1.03 billion.  Such a fine will represent about 15% of the bank's 2019 profit.
 
Shame: In November last year AUSTRAC, the entity responsible for preventing financial crimes, said the bank had violated anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws more than 23 million times (which the bank admits), allowing money tied to child exploitation in south-east Asia to flow freely. For example, Westpac's system was used by paedophiles to send money to the Philippines to pay for child abuse material without raising any red flags.   Notwithstanding Westpac's admission, the bank is not going down without a fight.  In the 57-page defence document filed with the court, Westpac denied AUSTRAC'S accusation that it failed to identify activity indicative of child exploitation risks.
 
Leadership Failure: The scandal brought down Westpac's leadership, forcing the resignation of chief executive Brian Hartzer and the early retirement of chairman Lindsay Maxsted.
 
Financial Pain: Last year Australian financial press reported that a penalty or settlement of $2 billion or $3 billion would see its CET1 ratio falling below 10.5% meaning the bank would be forced into another equity raising. And the trouble doesn't stop there for Westpac as the corporate regulator, ASIC, is probing into Westpac's previous $2.5 billion equity raise.
 
Relief: Commonwealth Bank will be delighted to pass the mantle of the indignity of Australia's current money laundering record fine of $700 million to Westpac (Commonwealth Bank was fined for systemically failing to report around 54,000 suspicious transactions made through its "intelligent deposit machines").
 
If you want more on the story from the media, there are updates on an almost weekly basis  - soon I guess daily basis.  Just use this link to keep track of the story:  "Westpac Austrac money laundering fine".

And add case to your case studies and typologies in your AML / CTF training for everything from CDD, transaction monitoring, risk assessment, culture, condusct risk and (lack of) crisis management.

Peter Oakes, Founder, CompliReg
​
Peter Oakes is an experience anti-financial crime, fintech and board director professional.  He served as Ireland's first Director of Enforcement and Financial Crime Supervision at the Central Bank of Ireland (2010-2013) in the aftermath of the financial crisis, leading the investigation and enforcement efforts into the Irish banking industry.  Peter is a regular contributor to, and moderator and panel member at, ACAMS events.

16 January 2020: Peter Oakes, Founder of CompliReg (and Founder of Fintech Ireland,  Fintech UK, Fintech NI and US Fintech / USTechFin) has been recognised as a Leading Band 1 Consultant in Chambers & Partners’ 2020 Professional Advisers guide for FinTech – the premier ranking of professional advisers to the financial services industry.

Peter secured a nationwide Ireland Band 1 ranking – Chambers’ top-tier ranking – where it was noted that: Peter Oakes, who has vast international regulatory experience as a former director of the Central Bank of Ireland. A source says: ‘Peter is high-profile, he has very strong governance capabilities and is very good for a regulated FinTech company.'

 Peter is a non-executive director of regulated fintech companies in the payments, e-money and MiFID sectors and is an adviser and mentor to fintech and regtech startups and scaleups. In Ireland he is a consultant to Clark Hill and in the UK he is a consultant to Kerman & Co, which is supporting the Fintech UK project.

​Learn more about Peter Oakes’s rankings in the Chambers FinTech guide here: https://chambers.com/department/peter-oakes-consulting-fintech-49:2743:114:1:23173986

​

September 12, 2018 EU Officials Pitch Expanded AML Oversight Role for European Banking Authority By Koos Couvée


Peter Oakes, former director of enforcement and AML at the Central Bank of Ireland, told ACAMS moneylaundering.com that if the plan takes eect, nancial institutions can expect scrutiny of their AML programs by the European Central Bank and other EU-level authorities.

Banks should respond by identifying “gaps in the current management informationreporting mechanism and potential gaps in policies and procedures,” Oakes, now a consultant with CompliReg.com in Dublin, said. “Those will have to be remediated.” 

Read full article here:  ​https://peteroakes.com/uploads/3/5/4/6/35467825/20180912-acams-koos-couvee-eu-officials-pitch-expanded-aml-oversight-role-european-banking-authority-aml-reforms-peter-oakes-complireg.pdf

'Oakes, who founded Ireland’s first regulatory technology support group, Fintech Ireland, is surprised by the absence of comment by the Central Bank' 


A former Central Bank regulator has warned Irish investors about the risks associated with a wave of unregulated "bitcoin-fuelled investment fund mania".

The warning comes after Enterprise Ireland ordered two fintech firms to remove website information and amend details in an investment prospectus that may have led investors to believe Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) valued at €2.5m were endorsed by the State agency.

Cryptocurrency firm MingoCoin - which is chaired by former Baltimore Technologies chief Fran Rooney and cites One Direction star Niall Horan as a shareholder and brand ambassador - aimed to raise €2m in a token presale which ended on October 9.

The pre-sale raised over €650,000 in the first hour alone. The firm, which has received startup funding from Enterprise Ireland (EI), was contacted last week by EI officials and ordered to amend or remove promotional material linked to the ICO that could be misconstrued as an endorsement by the Stage agency.

Mingocoin founder and ceo Joe Arthur confirmed the firm has held talks with Enterprise Ireland about its use of the State agency's name in promotional material.

"They have asked us to clarify the position in relation to the ICO," Arthur said.

"We have discussed that with them and obviously we have clarified that in our prospectus."

A second Irish-based bitcoin startup, Confideal, which has already raised about €550,000 in a pre-sale and is preparing to start an ICO on November 2, was also ordered by Enterprise Ireland to remove website material that suggested the state agency was a 'partner' and had endorsed its initial coin offering.

Initial Coin Offerings are typically used by startups to bypass regulated venture capitalists and banks.

Enterprise Ireland is exercising caution as ICOs are arousing greater scrutiny from regulators worldwide, it is believed.

China and South Korea have banned ICOs and the UK's financial watchdog, the FCA, has cautioned investors and consumers.

Peter Oakes, a former director of enforcement at the Central Bank, believes that the lack of disclosure about the risks of investing in ICOs, including the loss of the entire amount invested, is not being explained clearly to Irish investors.

With bitcoin popularity taking hold in Ireland, and with investment in ICOs worldwide estimated at €2.4bn, Oakes said: "No wonder firms and investors are jumping on the bandwagon. And no wonder some regulators are finally catching up."

Oakes, who founded Ireland's first regulatory technology support group, Fintech Ireland, is surprised by the absence of comment by the Central Bank.

"On the one hand, you could take the simplistic view that it is a case of 'caveat emptor'," Oakes, pictured, said.

"On the other hand, you could ask if the Central Bank needs to consider doing more under its 'protecting consumers' and investor protection mandates, especially that it wasn't long ago that money managed by supposedly expert and regulated advisors was misappropriated," he said, referring to the collapse of Bloxham Stockbrokers and Custom House Capital.

The Central Bank said it is examining the potential risks posed by virtual currencies. ICOs currently fall outside the scope of Irish law. 


https://peteroakes.com/uploads/3/5/4/6/35467825/20171015-beware-bitcoin-funding-mania-investors-told-peter-oakes-fintech-ireland-independent-online.pdf