[...] [T]he country's second largest bank came to an agreement with the financial intelligence regulator to pay the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history after it was accused of breaching anti-money laundering laws and failing to stop child exploitation payments.

[...]

The agreement between Westpac and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) [...] includes the fine as well as Westpac's admission it failed to properly report over 19.6 million international transfers amounting to over $11 billion.

The bank has also admitted it failed to carry out appropriate due diligence on its customers, with 284 clients making transactions indicative of suspicious activity including child exploitation in South East Asian countries.

Westpac chief executive Peter King apologised for the bank's failings.

"We are committed to fixing the issues to ensure that these mistakes do not happen again. This has been my number one priority. We have also closed down relevant products and reported all relevant historical transactions," Mr King said.

[...]