“Westpac scandal: a 12-year-old girl, online sexual exploitation and lax financial risks”, 23 November 2019

…Police barged through the…door of a family home…in Rizal, …Manila, …arrest[ing] a mother who was allegedly sexually exploiting her own 12-year-old daughter. Major Virtudazo of the police Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division…is confident a court inspection of her mobile phone will confirm information they had been given by a specialised police unit…in Australia. [In] poor villages…many are drawn into the lucrative crime that could earn traffickers in one day what they would probably make earning minimum wage jobs for a month. It is why the role of financial institutions is critical. “In the first place, the demand comes from other countries. We can stop production here if they are able to flag suspicious transactions abroad…”, Virtudazo.

The extent of the problem was exposed in a legal action the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac), the government financial intelligence agency, launched against one of the country’s biggest banks, Westpac, accusing it of legal breaches that allowed its customers to pay for child abuse undetected. [Westpac]…appoint[ed]…“independent experts” to investigate who was to blame for the breaches. “The notion that any child has been hurt as a result of any failings by Westpac is deeply distressing and we are truly sorry,” chairman Lindsay Maxsted said in his first public statement…“The board unreservedly apologises”.

AUSTRAC said Westpac failed to carry out appropriate due diligence on customers sending money to the Philippines and Southeast Asia,… intelligence identif[ying] at least six Westpac customers with questionable transactions and a history of travel to the Philippines…“banks and money transfer agencies should be monitoring suspicious transactions related to online sexual exploitation of children,” John Tanagho, [International Justice Mission]. The case highlights the importance of transnational cooperation...