Commonwealth Bank threatens to close long-time customer's accounts over little-known rule

Daily Mail​

14-05-2025

An Aussie businessman has described one of Australia's Big Four banks as 'Orwellian' after it threatened to freeze his accounts unless he explained the source of his money.
Louis Christopher, who runs investment research company SQM, said Commonwealth Bank threatened to cancel and close his bank accounts because he wouldn't explain to them where his money came from.
The bank recently sent a warning in writing to Mr Christopher who told Daily Mail Australia about the unexpected threat.
'This email came through and the first thought was that this is spam,' Mr Christopher said.
'I rang up Commonwealth Bank and they verified it was real and if I didn't comply, they would freeze my accounts.
'They were going to suspend all my accounts this week if I didn't tell them the answers to the above questions and said Austrac gave them the authority to do that.'
The bank wanted to know how he built up his wealth, why he made cash withdrawals, if he was holding cash at home and why, and why he make certain transactions to third parties.
He described the email as 'Orwellian'
'I found this a gross intrusion on my privacy. My wealth is my business and I regard it as a security threat to my family and myself to share it with anyone,' Mr Christopher said.
'They asked me to agree to share this information with third parties including government departments and other commercial credit providers. This is obscene, it's not acceptable.'
Mr Christopher, who has been a CBA customer since 1978, thinks the legal counsels within the banks were trying to interpret the demands of AUSTRAC.
AUSTRAC is the federal government's financial intelligence and investigation agency. It oversees anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
'I think it is government-driven. Orwellian stuff, driven by AUSTRAC,' he said.
The Federal Government has allowed banks to question its customers on what they are doing with their cash and where sums deposited have come from.
'It is a major intrusion on our privacy and liberties. I really do hope they don't freeze my accounts. I've been one of their long-standing customers and they can see my history,' Mr Christopher said.
Mr Christoper said the actions of banks and government agencies had gone too far and said it was all about collecting the data of Aussies.
'Putting a gun to everyone's heads and saying 'we're going to freeze your accounts unless you answer very personal questions' should not happen unless there's a court order,' he said.
'Banking is an essential service. If they freeze my accounts I won't be able to buy food or pay my mortgage.'
A number of people told Mr Christopher on social media that they had experienced the same problems, and it was not only CBA that came under fire.
Nick Marshall said: 'Had a similar experience before I left Australia, threatening accounts will be closed if they don't answer their personal financial questions.
'I felt equally disgusted, then a few weeks ago they threatened the same thing if I didn't disclose my new country's tax info.'
Another said: 'This happened to me just recently with ING. They shut me down and cut off all access to my own money with no warning.
'I had to jump through hoops with bells on just to access my accounts. 'My accounts are chump change. I have no large sums of money. They are coming for all of us.'
A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson sent Daily Mail Australia a statement justifying their actions.
'We are required to manage our customers' accounts in line with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, which sets out that all banks operating within Australia are required to collect, verify and maintain customer identification information,' they said.
'In the same way that we need to comply with regulations when a customer first opens an account, we also need to comply with current law regarding the maintenance of their identification information.
'Ensuring we have a customer's most up-to-date and correct details also helps us to keep them safe and protect them from fraud.'