Dodgy money transactions are set to be tracked at PayPal Australia after the Company inked an enforceable undertaking with AusTRAC, Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator, after admitting to breaches of Australia’s anti-money laundering laws.
PayPal is a subsidiary of online auction house eBay. The enforceable undertaking is a legally binding agreement to fix the breaches.
AusTRAC CEO John Schmidt, said: “An assessment of PayPal Australia revealed deficiencies in the systems PayPal had in place to assess and manage its money laundering and terrorism financing risk.
“The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 underpins Australia’s risk-based AML/CTF regime which recognises that reporting entities are best-placed to assess the risk of their customers, products and services becoming vulnerable to criminal activity.
“Compliance with the Act’s risk assessment requirements is crucial in Australia’s fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. The acceptance of this undertaking is a clear sign to industry that they must have robust systems and controls in place to manage and mitigate the risks their business may face.”
Under the undertaking, PayPal Australia has agreed to:
Strengthen its existing systems and controls; and
Submit to AusTRAC an independent expert report detailing PayPal Australia’s compliance with the laws and a plan to remedy identified deficiencies.
PayPal claims to have spent $13 million over the past two years to comply with Australia’s regulatory standards. Australia is its fifth biggest market.
The company’s services are available in 190 countries and support payments in 24 currencies.
EBay and PayPal have previously tangled with another Australian authority, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, when in 2008 eBay sought to make the use of PayPal obligatory for eBay transactions. Under pressure from the ACCC it later withdrew that plan.
