The enforcement team of Australia’s AUSTRAC has initiated an anti-money laundering (AML) probe against National Australia Bank (NAB).

The move was taken after AUSTRAC identified serious lapses in NAB’s compliance with AML and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) Act 2006 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules 2007.

In a letter to the lender, the financial regulator shared serious concerns with NAB’s non-compliance regarding customer identification procedures.

The letter also highlighted ‘potential serious and ongoing non-compliance’ with customer due diligence and other requirements.

However, AUSTRAC is yet to take a decision on whether an enforcement action would be taken against NAB. At this stage, the regulator is also not planning to initiate civil penalty proceedings.

In a statement, NAB said that it will continue to cooperate with AUSTRAC in the investigations.

NAB CEO Ross McEwan said: “NAB takes its financial crime obligations seriously. We are very aware that we need to further improve our performance in relation to these matters. We have been working to improve and clearly have more to do.

“NAB has an important role in monitoring and reporting suspicious activity and keeping Australia’s financial system, our bank and our customers safe.

“It is a key priority for everyone at NAB to uplift our financial crime capabilities, minimise risk to customers and the bank, and improve operational performance. That’s why we are so focused on getting the basics right every time to protect our customers and our bank.”

NAB is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia. It has more than nine million customers and 900 locations throughout Australia, New Zealand and around the world.