Australia’s financial crimes investigation authority AUSTRAC has issued 16 businesses with infringement notices for their failure to meet their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML-CTF) reporting obligations.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) marked out the 16 businesses – which included non-bank lenders and financiers, alternative remittance dealers, trustees of managed investments schemes and stock brokers – for their failure to submit their 2023 annual compliance reports.

Beyond their failure to submit their 2023 reports, AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas noted the businesses “had a history of non-compliance with this obligation”.

The infringement notices ranged from $3,765 for sole traders to $18,780 for companies.

AUSTRAC confirmed that 11 of the businesses flagged have since paid their infringement notices, with five remaining businesses under continued investigation by the agency.

“A key aspect of Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime is ensuring AUSTRAC receives information from businesses to support our work and help provide the actionable data for our intelligence work, and the work of our law enforcement partners,” Thomas said.

This action follows AUSTRAC’s issuance of eight infringement notices in April this year after a number of businesses failed to lodge their 2022 compliance reports.

“AUSTRAC will not hesitate to continue drawing on its range of regulatory tools and enforcement powers to maintain public confidence in Australia’s financial system and prevent non-compliance,” Thomas concluded.

The compliance report is a requirement under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act).

The reports, which are submitted online, include questions about how regulated entities have met their AML/CTF obligations.