Austrac shuts down another remitter

Austrac has cancelled the registration of a Sydney remittance company, FNF First National Finance, after finding it posed a significant money laundering or terrorist financing risk.

Austrac said in a statement that FNF was identified through the Eligo National Taskforce, which was led by the Australian Crime Commission. The taskforce has been investigating the use of remittance services by organised crime.

Austrac did not provide details of the FNF case, only saying: "remitters are required to have systems and controls in place to identify, mitigate and manage the risk of being misused by criminals."

The anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator said it was actively considering the registration status of a number of other entities. It has cancelled the registration of nine remitters since the Remittance Sector Register was set up in 2011.

The move against FNF comes a few weeks after the Financial Action Task Force published a review of Australia's AML/CTF regime, in which it said there were deficiencies in the preventive measures put in place by organisations working in the remittance market.

FATF said conviction rates for money laundering offences were "lower than they could be, relative to the nature and scale of the risks."