The Commonwealth Bank is breathing a huge sigh of relief despite being slapped with the largest fine in Australian corporate history.
The bank must cough up $700 million for failing to carry out appropriate anti-money laundering controls but some market watchers were expecting a penalty of up to $1 billion.
The country's largest bank admitted to 53,506 breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.
Under the settlement with financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC, CBA will also pay $2.5 million in legal fees, subject to Federal Court approval.
While Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wagged his finger at the bank, traders were celebrating.
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CBA's shares were up by two per cent on Monday before closing with a 1.4 per cent lift to $69.69.
Law Enforcement Minister Angus Taylor said it was an unacceptable failure that can't be repeated.
"(Money laundering) is the grease and oil that lubricates the criminal economy," he told ABC Radio.
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn said the lender had not deliberately breached the law by failing to provide the regulator with timely notification of potentially suspicious transactions.
However, he admitted that the bank's risk procedures and due diligence were not up to scratch.
"While not deliberate, we fully appreciate the seriousness of the mistakes we made," Mr Comyn said in a statement.
Mr Comyn, who was promoted to replace Ian Narev in April, insists the bank had spent more than $400 million on anti-money laundering compliance measures.
