ASB AML-CFT proceedings

ASB acknowledges and accepts responsibility for breaches of its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) Act raised by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ).

ASB CEO Vittoria Shortt said "Banks play a very important role in helping to detect financial crime and safeguarding our financial system. Our transaction monitoring and customer due diligence systems and processes had shortcomings, and we did not act fast enough to resolve these. We didn't get this right and I apologise for that.

"We cleared all backlogs of transaction monitoring alerts by February 2024. We have uplifted, and continue to uplift, our processes to improve our AML-CFT capability, including expanding our teams and investing in technology."

There are no allegations that ASB was directly involved in money laundering, or the financing of terrorism at any time.