(Reuters) - Australian regulators have over the recent years fined a slew of companies over breaches and non-compliance issues, with the country's "Big Four" banks penalised the heaviest over money laundering and plenty of other charges.
Here are some of the major penalties imposed by the regulators:
AMP (OTC:AMLTF) LTD
Troubled Australian wealth manager AMP Ltd was fined a court-mandated penalty of A$24 million in May for billing dead clients for insurance and financial advice.
ANZ GROUP HOLDINGS
An Australian court fined the country's fourth-largest bank, ANZ Group Holdings, A$10 million in penalties in March for non-compliance with consumer credit protection laws in a case that stems from the Royal Commission proceedings.
In October 2022, ANZ was penalised A$25 million for failing to provide certain benefits it had agreed to give customers.
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY), the country's biggest lender, in June 2018 agreed to pay a penalty of A$700 million to settle money laundering charges brought by Australia's financial intelligence agency.
In October 2022, CBA's trading unit was fined A$20 million for compliance failures in delivering financial services.
CROWN RESORTS
On May 30, Crown Resorts and Australia's financial crime regulator agreed to a A$450 million penalty after the casino operator failed to prevent money laundering and criminal activity at its casinos.
Crown was also fined A$120 million by the state of Victoria in November last year for serious misconduct and breaches including failure to prevent gambling harm.
Separately, the state fined Crown A$80 million in May last year for enabling illegal transfer of funds from China.
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK
National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY), the country's second-largest bank, was charged A$18.5 million penalty in August 2021 by a court for issuing misleading fee disclosure statements or none at all.
STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
The Queensland government in December 2022 slapped penalties totalling A$100 million on Star Entertainment after findings proved that the casino operator did not meet certain regulatory requirements.
TABCORP HOLDINGS
In March 2017, Tabcorp was ordered to pay a A$45-million civil penalty on non-compliance with the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law.
TLOU ENERGY LTD
In October 2022, Australia's corporate watchdog imposed a fine of A$53,280 on Tlou Energy over allegations of 'greenwashing', or exaggerated claims regarding environmentally friendly investments, making it the regulator's first time to crack down on such a misconduct.
TELECOM FIRMS
Three Australian telecom firms: Telstra (OTC:TLGPY) Group, a unit of TPG Telecom, and Optus, a unit of Singapore Telecommunications, were ordered by a court to pay a collective A$33.5 million in penalties for making misleading claims about the speed of some NBN internet plans.
WESTPAC BANKING CORP
Australia's third-biggest lender, Westpac Banking (NYSE:WBK) Corp was ordered to pay A$113 million in penalties in April 2022 for multiple compliance failures across its businesses.
In September 2020, Westpac was slapped with a record A$1.3 billion fine to settle a lawsuit accusing it of enabling millions of payments to people exploiting children.