The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) shared key information as part of a trade of two emails, as ASIC probes RAMS Home Loans, according to a Tuesday report by The Australian.
ASIC began an investigation of Westpac Banking (ASX:WBC, NZE:WBC) unit RAMS' home lending, amid suspicion the company's franchisees had been breaching their lending obligations, making inappropriate home loans to customers.
The bank earlier said that the regulator was reviewing home loans made by the unit between January 2019 and September 2023, scrutinizing whether staff at the home lender used unaccredited loan referrers and gave misleading information.
An ASIC spokesman said in the report the commission regularly engages with fellow regulators, while an Austrac spokeswoman noted the agency was aware of matters involving RAMS.
A Westpac spokesman said the bank had taken appropriate action in 2022 against RAMS after "our risk management controls uncovered issues in some RAMS loan applications."
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