New Suspicious Activity Indicators for Designated Service Providers

As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance Australia's financial crime detection and prevention framework, AUSTRAC continues to issue guidance and updates to help businesses comply with their AML/CTF obligations.

This week, AUSTRAC released a series of sector-specific suspicious activity indicators for a range of industries providing designated services. This will help businesses better detect suspicious activity and behaviour linked to money laundering, terrorism financing, and other illicit activities.

These indicators highlight behaviours, actions, and patterns that could signal suspicious activity or potential criminal behaviour. They are tailored to sector-specific risks, covering indicators for money laundering, tax crimes, fraud, scams, identity theft, welfare fraud, and terrorism financing.

 

What Should You Do?

 

a) Review your sector indicators

While you may already have a set of typologies and rules for transaction monitoring and suspicious activity identification, it is essential to assess AUSTRAC's updated list for your sector. If there are new indicators relevant to your business, consider integrating them into your existing suspicious activity detection protocols, transaction monitoring systems, and risk assessments.

 

b) Respond to potential suspicious activity

If you detect potential suspicious activity, take the necessary actions outlined in your AML/CTF program. This might involve investigating the customer or account, reviewing the customer’s risk rating, checking for previous suspicious activity or suspicious matter report (SMR) submissions, conducting enhanced customer due diligence (ECDD), refreshing know your customer (KYC) information, or even suspending the account.

Any activity that is confirmed to be suspicious by you must be reported to AUSTRAC by lodging an SMR.

 

c) Update your AML/CTF framework

Consider the impact of these new indicators on other elements of your AML program, eg: staff training and  awareness programs, governance requirements etc.

4 Oct 2024

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Further reading

From our articles:

• Note on ML/TF National Risk Assessment - click here

Regulatory resources:

• Suspicious Matter reporting

• Enhanced Customer Due Diligence

• Risk Assessment

• ML and TF National Risk Assessments

• Proliferation Financing National Risk Assessment

  
  

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Compliense Advisors is an AML/CTF and FinCrime compliance and risk management advisory firm. Our experience includes undertaking ML/TF risk assessment; setting up, implementing, uplifting AML/CTF program; advising on AML/CTF matters; and a range of AML and FinCrime compliance and risk matters.

The article above is for general awareness and informational purposes only. Please carefully evaluate your circumstances, and seek professional advice for your specific needs. You are responsible for your compliance obligations, and for any action taken or omitted. We are not a law firm, and do not provide legal advice.

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