Financial Regulators

The responsibilities of the Security and Exchange Commission are divided into the following five divisions:

In this section, we will outline the main responsibilities of OTS. We explain how OTS helps contribute to a safe banking system and how it might affect international money transfer customers. Keep in mind that the OTS is no longer operating, which means these responsibilities were inherited by the regulators it was merged into. The main duties of the OTS included:

This section will outline the main responsibilities of the OCC, as we explain how the independent bureau helps charter the US financial system and international transfers sent to and from the country.

Duties overseen by the OCC include:

• Ensuring customers are protected from fraudulent banking practices

• Ensuring consumers have equal and fair access to banking services

• Issuing penalties to any banks that do not adhere to the regulations and laws

• Monitoring banks and identifying illicit or unsafe practices that threaten to destabilize the financial sector or put consumer money at risk

• Evaluating new bank branch and bank charter applications to ensure they meet the requirements of United States law.

• Examining corporate structure to ensure banks are in the best position to follow all governing rules

• Visiting bank headquarters and branches, to perform audits that determine if customer funds are at risk

• Providing various frameworks for banks to follow

• Working with member banks to help navigate regulations and follow applicable guidelines

The OCC is a core financial regulator with a vast workload that includes supervising 1,109 banks with a total value of $15.1 trillion. This money makes up approximately 65% of the overall US commercial banking sector.

Furthermore, there are 2,352 OCC examiners and their budget for 2022 is $1.154B. They are one of the key regulators for safeguarding the funds of money transfer clients that use the US banking system.

This section covers the primary responsibilities of the NCUA so you can better understand their role in the US economy. In addition, consumers of money transfer companies can learn why this organization might be relevant to them. Responsibilities of the NCUA:

The NCUA also regularly provides news updates relating to credit unions. You can learn more about what new regulations or rules are in place through press releases, speeches, email newsletters, and conferences.

This section covers the regulations, crimes, and industries that the NCUA covers. Therefore, at a glance, you can get an idea of the scope and limitations of the NCUA.

• Regulations: The Federal Credit Union Act is the source of the authority under which the NCUA operates. All federally chartered credit unions have to adhere to the rules and terms of the act. Additionally, the NCUA has rules and regulations that must be followed, and the general public can submit proposals for the organizations to consider.

• Crimes: The NCUA does not deal with crimes like money laundering. Instead, they only look for instances where federally insured credit unions are not following the Federal Credit Union Act or its rules. When these rules are not followed, then fines are handed out.

• Industries: The NCUA is limited to credit unions that are federally insured. They do not oversee other financial institutions, so their scope is limited. However, this focus allows them to do a great job of ensuring credit unions provide a fair service to their members and are held accountable.

• Accountability: The NCUA is accountable to the Government of the United States and the general public that uses credit unions.

Here we will provide an overview of FINRA’s core responsibilities and how these duties influence the world of finance.

This section highlights the primary responsibilities of FinCEN. This allows consumers of money transfer companies to understand better how their work will impact the experience of sending money to the United States. You will see that FinCEN is a valuable cog in the US economy that contributes to the fair nature of the financial markets. Top responsibilities of FinCEN:

Financial crimes typically leave a trail. Following this trail is the job of FinCEN to ensure they can find the suspects of wrongdoing in the US financial markets. Unfortunately, this process can take a long time, depending on the sophistication of the strategy used by the criminals. Therefore, sharing information with other regulators, law enforcement agencies, and partners helps reduce the time required to find bad actors.

This section shares the regulations, crimes, and industries relevant to FinCEN. This enables consumers of money transfer companies to figure out how FinCEN impacts their experience. You can also learn about their scope and limitations.

• Regulations: FinCEN operates under various regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. The act was created to prevent criminals from using financial institutions as tools to launder money. The rules and regulations of FinCEN update over time to meet the challenges of constantly changing technology. For example, as cybersecurity has become more of a threat, the resources spent to prevent this fraud have increased.

• Crimes: FinCEN deals with a wide range of financial crimes, which include money laundering, cyber security, narcotics trafficking, identity theft, tax evasion, and much more. They collaborate with other US regulators, so they assist in almost every type of crime that is committed.

• Industries: FinCEN mainly deals with financial institutions, but their work might overlap with other sectors as they collaborate with different regulators. Bank and money transfer companies like Wise, WorldRemit, and Xe are among the responsibilities of FinCEN.

• Accountability: FinCEN is accountable to Congress and the United States Government. They have to provide reports to Congress, and Government organizations decide on the director of the organizations.

This section is an overview of the responsibilities of the FED. This explains why they are a big deal for regulating the US economy. Understanding the important work of the FED will give you peace of mind when sending money to the United States. Here are the top responsibilities of the FED:

Now let us take a closer look at the relevant regulations, crimes, and industries relating to the FED. This provides the scope and limitations of the FED at a glance. Therefore, money transfer customers can learn how the FED contributes to the quality of their experience.

• Regulations: The Federal Reserve is responsible for regulating private banks. The philosophy for how the FED does this ensures a balance between government regulations and privatization. The Federal Banking Agency Audit Act is the relevant regulation that the FED uses to oversee the financial system.

• Crimes: The FED can reduce the chances of crimes by maintaining macro-level decisions. For instance, they can block routes or loopholes for bad actors that want to launder money. However, they are not involved in the day-to-day investigating and stopping of minor financial crimes.

• Industries: The FED is responsible for the financial-related industries – especially banks and companies that allow consumers to deposit money. The FED will regulate any entity that meets these criteria and is within the United States.

• Accountability: The FED is accountable to the public and Congress. Twice every year, the FED must submit a Monetary Policy Report to Congress, and the chair and Board of Governors must testify.

In this section we will elaborate on how the FDIC helps to protect customers through their affiliation with member banks. Customers making international money transfers to or from the US will benefit from the following FDIC jurisdiction.

This section explains the responsibilities of the FCA, to help our readers gain a better understanding of how the organisation safeguards the UK financial sector. The core duties of this financial regulator can be broken down into the following categories:

This section takes a closer look at the responsibilities of the Bank of England. They are the most crucial entity in the UK’s economy since they make the critical decision regarding monetary policy. Understanding their responsibilities gives you a better idea of why you can trust the UK economy as a customer of money transfer companies. Bank of England responsibilities:

This section provides the key Bank of England information at a glance. You will learn about the relevant regulations, crimes they stop and industries they are involved in.

• Regulations: the Financial Services Act of 2012 reformed the UK’s government financial regulation. Many of the new policies were a response to the 2008 global financial crisis, and it created the Financial Policy Committee.The Bank of England enforces its regulatory power through the Prudential Regulation Authority. They regulate all types of financial services, which include banks and money transfer companies.

• Crimes: the Bank of England does not deal with crimes committed by the general public – other entities are responsible for dealing with such matters. Instead, they focus on instances where financial institutions do not follow the rules of the UK’s financial markets.

• Industries: The BOE mainly deals with the financial sector. They act to enforce the regulations on financial services companies and banks. However, the monetary policies they make impact all industries in the UK.

• Accountability: the Bank of England is accountable to the UK Government since they act as their banker. This means they have strong powers to make changes to the UK economy.

Now let us turn our attention toward the responsibilities of the Prudential Regulation Authority. This enables customers of money transfer services to figure out how this regulator can help improve the UK economy.

The Prudential Regulation Authority is not looking for an approach that involves zero-risk policies. That would be impossible in most cases and a counter-productive way of regulating the UK economy. Instead, they try to reduce the chances of financial failure so that significant disruption to the UK’s economy is not caused.

An example of the PRA in action is when they sent out a formal request to the biggest lenders in the UK to suspend share repurchases and dividends at the end of the year. This was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis that started in March 2020.

Now we will delve deeper into the responsibilities of the PSR. This will help you better understand how they help money transfer customers interact with the UK’s economy and why they are a noteworthy regulator. The responsibilities of the PSR include:

The Payment Systems Regulator is funded by the industry and is an independent organisation with its managing director and board. Also, they are accountable to the Parliament and are an independent subsidiary of the Financial Conduct Authority.

Now let us dive deeper into the regulations, crimes and industries relevant to the PSR. This section provides vital information at a glance that allows you to figure out how the regulator helps customers of money transfer companies.

• Regulations: The PSR has strong regulatory and competition powers, which means they can give direction and set standards, impose requirements about system rules, ask operators for direct access to payment systems, amend payment system fees or charges, investigate questionable behaviour and act when there is evidence of anti-competitive signals. Overall, The PSR is the most significant authority in the payment systems industry, with powers handed down from the government. Therefore, all businesses that operate in the payment system space are accountable to the PSR.

• Crimes: The crimes that the PSR deals with relating to the payment systems and how they are implemented by banks or money transfer companies like Currencies Direct. They monitor the industry and look for breaches, which can result in fines.

• Accountability: They are accountable to the British government, with strong powers to ensure they can enforce the laws.

This section covers the responsibilities of the FSCS so you can better understand how they are relevant to customers of money transfer companies. You will learn why they are an essential organisation in the UK financial markets.

The limits of the FSCS responsibilities are laid out on the compensation limits page of their website. Also, people can discover what makes them eligible to receive compensation. The maximum amount that each person can receive is 85,000 GBP per bank, building society or credit union. For joint accounts, the maximum compensation amount is 170,000 GBP.

The FSCS only pays out money when the firm in question cannot pay themselves, which means they are in default. The FSCS will investigate the financial status of the firm. The organisation was created primarily to help private individuals, but in some cases also covers small businesses.

This section is an overview of the regulations, crimes and industries that relate to the FSCS. This enables you to quickly understand what the FSCS is about and understand its limitations.

• Regulations: The FSCS was set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. This gives them the power to offer the compensation scheme to the general public. Also, their scheme's rules were created by the Financial Conduct Authority, one of the top UK regulators.

• Crimes: The FSCS does not deal with any crimes in the financial industry. They only deal with claims regarding compensation payouts for money that cannot be paid back by financial institutions.

• Industries: The FSCS is limited to financial institutions active in the UK economy. The type of deposits covered by the scheme includes mortgage arrangements, mortgages, investments, insurance brokering and regular currency accounts.

• Accountability: The FCA appointed the board members of the FSCS, so they are accountable to the regulator.

In this section, we will cover the various aspects of what the FPC is responsible for. This will enable you to figure out their role in ensuring the UK economy runs smoothly, and money transfer customers can continue sending money to the UK.

The committee is headed by the Governor of the Bank of England (currently Andrew Bailey). If there are economic concerns, they are passed down to the Prudential Regulation Authority.

This section highlights the regulations that govern how this committee operates. This will give you an overview of their scope and where the responsibilities end. At a glance, you can get a feel of what the FPC is about.

• Regulations: The Financial Policy Committee's powers can be broken down into two sets: powers of direction and recommendation. Using these powers, the FPC can advise regulators about what policy to pursue.

• Therefore, The FPC does not have direct powers to make changes. Instead, they are simply a committee that offers advice that enables the regulators with powers to pull the trigger on meaningful policy changes.

• Crimes: The FPC is not involved with the monitoring and dealing of criminal activity in the financial markets. Instead, they focus on bigger picture macro trends that indicate where the UK’s economy is heading.

• Industry: The FPC monitors all aspects of the UK’s economy, so it covers all industries. The data it uses to make decisions is pooled from any sector contributing to the nation’s financial markets.

• Accountability: The FPC is accountable to the Parliament. Also, the Governor of the Bank of England, a member of the FPC, communicates with the Chancellor annually.

This section covers the various responsibilities of the FOS. This will inform you about why the organisation exists and how money transfer customers can benefit from them. Overall, sending money to the UK is a safer practice because they help resolve disputes.

According to the data released by the FOS, around 200 businesses are responsible for approximately 90% of the complaints. Also, about 90% of the disputes that the FOS take part in are resolved during the early informal stages. This dramatically reduces the workload on the organisation and promotes trust in the money transfer industry.

This section covers the regulations, crimes and industries relevant to the FOS. This allows you to figure out what the FOS is about at a glance and where their responsibilities end. In addition, consumers of money transfer services can benefit by learning about the type of help available to them.

• Regulations: the powers that the FOS acts with were handed down as part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. They received these powers in 2001, allowing them to hand out fines and make critical decisions on the outcome of a case.

• The FOS is also covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as of November 2011. Also, the board of the FOS is appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority. The board has the task of ensuring that the FOS remains independent and impartial in all of its cases.

• Crimes: the FOS deals with all types of issues, and financial crimes might be included among the cases they receive. However, rather than dealing with serious financial crimes, those cases might be passed down to the relevant authorities instead of dealing with serious financial crimes. The FOS primarily deals with disputes and complaints.

• Industries: the FOS covers complaints regarding most organisations that provide financial services. This includes money transfer services, finance companies, financial advisers, insurance companies, building societies and banks.

• Accountability: as mentioned above, the FOS has its board appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority, which means that is where the accountability lies.

This section takes a closer look at the responsibilities of the RBA. Here you can find out their role and how they ensure that the Australian economy continues functioning correctly.

Overall, the RBA is an integral part of the Australian financial markets. Their responsibility is arguably the biggest among the regulators. They also manage the gold and financial reserves of the Australian Government. It is estimated that the net worth of the Australian Government is around 101 billion AUS. Therefore, the RBA has an immense responsibility in the economy; without their oversight, it would be difficult to have stability.

Now let us dive deeper into the specifics of the RBA. This will help you understand the relevant regulations, crimes, industries and accountability. At a glance, you can get a good sense of the scope of the RBA and where their responsibilities might end.

• Regulations: The governance structure of the RBA is laid out by the Reserve Bank Act 1959, and according to those rules, the Governor is in charge of the Bank. Part of the responsibility includes managing a payment system policy.The Governor also has the responsibilities laid out in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). This relates to the management of the bank, which the Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee check.

• Crimes: The RBA does not deal with crimes since they are in charge of bigger-picture legislation to get the economy balanced. However, some policies they pass can help reduce the chances of criminals taking advantage of Australia’s financial system.

• Industries: Since the RBA is in charge of the entire economy of Australia, it means that they are involved in all sectors and any consumer that uses AUS for transactions. This also includes money transfer companies and customers that use them. Examples of these companies include Wise, WorldRemit and TorFX.

• Accountability: Since the RSB is an independent central bank, they are accountable to the Parliament. Also, the Reserve Bank Act 1959 states that the bank must consult with the Australian Government.

Now let us turn our attention to the responsibilities of the IIROC. This section will help you better understand the importance of the regulatory body. Therefore, you can have more confidence in the Canadian financial markets when transferring funds.

The vision of the IIROC is:

• To create a culture that attracts the best employees in the industry

• Holding the title of an industry-leading regulator

• Gaining the trust of stakeholders by being respected and valued

• Improving the efficiency of Canadian regulations

• Reducing wrongdoing and offering more confidence through robust tools

This section delves deeper into the specifics of what the IIROC is responsible for and where they end. Therefore, money transfer customers can better understand how the organization can serve them when interacting with Canadian financial markets.

• Regulations: the IIROC provides clear rules and regulations that indicate how members should conduct themselves while operating in the investment markets. They are classed as a self-regulatory body, which means that they have some degree of regulatory authority. However, the government has not handed down their ability to enforce the rules. Overall, the IIROC operates under the auspices and orders of the Canadian Securities Administrators.

• Crimes: the IIROC deals with crimes and rule-breaking relating to firms and individuals using the investment markets. This can include trading in bad faith or manipulating the markets unfairly.

• Industries: the IIROC is limited to the debt and equity market. The specific scope of their task ensures they are in the best position to hold the participants of the markets accountable.

• Accountability: the IIROC is accountable to the Canadian Securities Administrators and investors who want to use brokers to make investments in the market.

Now let us turn our attention toward the various responsibilities of FINTRAC so you can better understand how they can help protect money transfer customers. You will see that they are an essential regulator in the Canadian economy.

Under Bill C-25 in 2006, FINTRAC’s responsibilities were expanded to:

• Create a registration scheme for money transfer companies and foreign exchange dealers.

• Create new offences for not registering with their organization.

• Enhance client identification and record-keeping practices.

Back in 2009, FINTRAC estimated that annually the total amount laundered is about $5 to $15 billion, and since then, it has most likely increased. Overall, FINTRAC analyzed 19 million transactions per year, and in 2017 they disclosed 2,000 of them to the police forces.

This section analyses the specific aspects of the FINTRAC that allow you to understand the organization at a glance. You can figure out why it is a noteworthy regulator in protecting the integrity of the Canadian economy.

• Regulations: FINTRAC reports to the Parliament of Canada via the Minister of Finance. Additionally, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act states that the Privacy Commissioner of Canada must audit FINTRAC. This is also the act they must follow to enforce the rules and catch questionable transactions.

• Furthermore, FINTRAC’s activities are monitored by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

• Crimes: FINTRAC may spot various financial crimes through its monitoring system. However, they focus on money laundering and terrorism financing. When questionable transactions are found then, FINTRAC reports them to the authorities.

• Industry: FINTRAC deals with all transactions entering and leaving the Canadian border. Therefore, they are arguably involved with all sectors of the Canadian economy. Automated systems help FINTRAC deal with the large volume of transactions they need to monitor annually.

• Accountability: FINTRAC is accountable to the Government of Canada; more specifically, they report to the parliament. Also, the various government-appointed organizations monitor FINTRAC’s activities to ensure they are fulfilling their responsibilities correctly.

Now let us take a closer look at what the FCAC is responsible for and its primary duties. Once you learn about the vital work the FCAC does to protect consumers; you can better trust the financial markets when sending money to Canada.

The work that the FCAC is tasked to accomplish is set out by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act. The two main elements of the act include monitoring the compliance of federally regulated financial institutions and improving the nation’s financial literacy.

The Commissioner of the FCAC has a five-year term that they report annually to the Parliament of Canada via the Minister of Finance. The report must include the FCAC’s performance and the financial institutions that they are responsible for overseeing.

Now let us delve deeper into the scope and limitations of the FCAC. This section shares essential aspects of the work they do at a glance. Therefore, money transfer consumers can easily learn why the FCAC is a substantial regulatory body.

• Regulations: The regulatory powers of the FCAC are strong because they are an organization created by the Government of Canada. The acts that indicate the regulations they can enforce include the Bank Act, the Insurance Companies Act, the Trust and Loan Companies Act, the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, the Green Shield Canada Act, the Payment Card Networks Act and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act.

• Crimes: The FCAC does not directly deal with crimes such as money laundering and theft. However, it can report such crimes to the relevant authorities. Instead, the FCAC deals with financial violations of the acts listed above.

• Industries: The industries covered by the FACA include banks and federally governed financial institutions. You can view the complete list of entities it oversees from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

• Accountability: The FCAC is accountable to the Government of Canada. More specifically, the Governor reports to the Parliament annually about their performance.

This section summarises the various responsibilities of the CFR. This enables money transfer customers to understand better how the CFR plays a role in promoting the health of the Australian financial markets. The responsibilities of the CFR include:

The CFR is responsible for the coordination of 4 regulators, which include the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the Treasury, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

These are the central regulatory bodies of Australia that create new rules, enforce current ones and ensure that no criminal activity is taking place. Overall, they promote the health of the Australian economy, which should allow money transfer customers to have confidence in it.

Now let us examine specific parts of CFR to understand their scope and limitations better. This provides you with a few facts that will help you understand where the CFR focuses its efforts.

• Regulations: The Charter sets out the responsibilities of the CFR. They also use the expertise of non-member government agencies to complete their work where appropriate. There is an agreement between the regulators setting the framework for how the CFR is allowed to coordinate efforts between them.

• Crimes: The CFR does not deal with stopping crime directly. However, they can coordinate efforts of the relevant regulatory bodies to stop crimes where they are having a significant impact on the Australian financial markets.

• Industries: Since the CFR coordinates the four biggest regulators in Australia; then their reach extends to all sectors. This means they need to have their pulse on the entire scope of the Australian economy.

• Accountability: The CFR is accountable to the Government of Australia, the regulators within the system, the businesses and the consumers of the financial markets. However, legal accountability lies with the Parliament.

This section will showcase the primary responsibilities of PC. This allows users of the Canadian economy to figure out why they can trust the system's integrity and send money without worrying that it will get lost. According to the Canadian Payments Act, the duties of PC include:

PC has a strategy for ensuring the above objectives are met to create a modernized payments infrastructure that will benefit Canadians and consumers of international money transfer companies.

The system that PC uses includes Lynx, which is the primary clearing system for large-value and time-critical CAD transactions. It’s regulated by the Bank of Canada and uses an electronic wire system.

Furthermore, the retail batch payment system consists of ACCSS (Automated Clearing Settlement Systems) and U.S. Dollar Bank Bulk Exchange. ACCSS is commonly used for handling cheques and electronic payments such as pre-authorized debit and bill payments, online payments, point-of-sale transactions, ATM withdrawals and direct deposits.

This section will help you get to know Payments Canada at a glance. You can also learn about the regulations that dedicate their mandate and the industries they are involved in.

• Regulations: the regulations that relate to Payments Canada include the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act. This act became law on the 31st of July 1996 and is overseen by the Bank of Canada. The act ensures that payments are correctly settled with the correct recipient of the funds.

• Crimes: Payments Canada does not monitor, report, or deal with crimes. They are simply an organization tasked with creating and maintaining a payment system that allows Canadian and international users to send and settle payments.

• Industries: Payments Canada is involved with all sectors in Canada because its system enables every participant to send and receive funds. In fact, with the systems maintained by Payments Canada, businesses would find it impossible to do business in Canada.

• Accountability: Payments Canada is directly accountable to its parent organizations, the Bank of Canada and the Department of Finance.

Now we will delve deeper into the responsibilities of the CDIC. You will find out how they safeguard consumers of the Canadian banking system to ensure that their money is protected against unforeseen events.

The type of financial institutions the CDIC accepts into their membership include banks, loan and trust companies governed by the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, and federally regulated credit unions.

The CDIC is not a bank or a private insurance company. Instead, they are funded by the premiums that member institutions pay, and there is no financial help from the general public. This shows they are set up to benefit the public without forcing them to pay extra insurance costs.

This section highlights specific aspects of the CDIC so you can better understand them at a glance. In addition, it allows you to figure out the scope of their operation and where the responsibilities end.

• Regulations: the CIDC act ensures that the organization can use its powers to create the rules and laws it operates. They make various by-laws which specify how they resolve problems that fall into their domain.For example, when foreign currency funds are lost in bank accounts, they need to determine what exchange rate will be used to convert that amount into CAD.

• Crimes: the CDIC does not deal with crimes, they are simply a financial organization that insure depositor money in their member financial institutions.

• Industry: they welcome a wide variety of financial institutions into their membership scheme, which includes banks and federally regulated credit unions.

• Accountability: the CDIC is accountable to the Government of Canada. Also, they serve the general public since that is their organization's purpose.

This section will take a deeper look at the responsibilities of AUSTRAC. This allows international money transfer customers to determine how their transactions are protected when sending funds to Australia. The primary responsibilities of AUSTRAC include:

• Using intelligence capabilities to gather information about transactions and follow up on questionable entries.

• Information about crimes is shared with law enforcement agencies so they can better do their jobs in catching the criminals.

• Developing new strategies to deal with the constantly evolving technological landscape within the finance sector

• Look for vulnerabilities in the Australian finance sector and work with companies to plug them.

• Support money transfer companies, businesses and other financial organisations to meet regulatory requirements.

• Works with other domestic and international regulators to ensure that the Australian financial system is protected from criminal activity.

AUSTRAC can protect international money transfer customers by spotting fraudulent transactions leaving their accounts. For example, if an account were hacked, funds leaving the account could be stopped or frozen before too much damage is done.

In some cases, AUSTRAC may facilitate investigating where lost money has gone in an attempt to retrieve it for money transfer customers. However, reversing or stopping criminal activity is not always possible – AUSTRAC does its best to protect the general public and businesses alike.

Now let us focus on the regulations, crimes, and industries that AUSTRAC is involved with. This will give you easy access to information about where this regulatory body is effective.

• Regulations: the legislation that AUSTRAC is involved with includes AML/CTF Act, AML/CTF rules, Public Legal Interpretations, Financial Transaction Reports Act and Industry Contribution Legislation.

• Crimes: AUSTRAC works hard to protect the general public and businesses from a variety of crimes, which include tax evasion, money laundering, organised crime, terror financing and welfare fraud. They also oversee Australia’s gambling industry and work on the crimes reported in that sector.

• Industries: AUSTRAC is involved with businesses that are used to send or receive money in Australia. This includes regular companies and financial institutions like banks.

• Accountability: Ultimately, AUSTRAC is accountable to the Australian Government, the people that use the financial system in Australia and the businesses within the country.

Now let us focus on the responsibilities of ASIC so you can better understand how they help protect customer money during international money transfers. Learning about the regulatory responsibilities of ASIC provides faith in the trustworthiness of money transfer companies. The primary responsibilities of ASIC include:

• Maintaining and improving the performance of the financial system.

• Installing and maintaining confidence in the financial system.

• Create and enforce minimal procedure requirements.

• Help with the process of registering companies and providing that information publicly.

• Enforcing the law, which includes handing out criminal and civil penalties.

ASIC provides consumer education that can be utilised by money transfer company customers to learn how the regulatory body protects them. Also, they provide general advice about how to manage money and follow smart money-saving practices. For example, those without education in how to manage personal fiancés can turn to ASIC for guidance.

Now let us turn our attention to the regulations, crimes, and industries that ASIC oversees. This section provides context for the scope of their operations and how they protect money transfer consumers.

• Regulations: ASIC has the responsibility of upholding the laws set by the Australian Government. The laws grant ASIC formal powers to hand out penalties or prosecute criminally. The regulations are constantly updated, and in 2019 they were strengthened to give ASIC more powers when regulating the Australian financial markets.The regulatory powers that ASIC uses include the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act), Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act), Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (National Credit Act), and the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Better Advice) Act 2021 (Better Advice Act)

• Crimes: ASIC protects against a wide range of crimes in the Australian financial markets, which include fraud, money laundering, overcharging of fees, mismanagement of customer finances, charging for additional insurance policies, and providing inadequate systems. As technology develops and financial systems change, the specific crimes that ASIC handles will also change.

• Industries: ASIC is in charge of monitoring any businesses that take part in financial markets. This includes insurance companies, deposit-taking institutions like banks, and superannuation. Their scope is vast, and they complete their duties with the help of other regulators like the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

• Accountability: Ultimately, ASIC is a regulator the Australian Government has appointed—meaning they are accountable to them, and that is the authority to whom they answer.

In this section, we will cover the primary responsibilities of APRA and how they work to protect the integrity of the Australian financial system. In summary, the APRA oversees:

• Life insurers

• General insurers

• Authorised deposit-taking institutions like building societies, banks and credit unions

• Friendly societies, private health insurers

• Reinsurance companies

• Superannuation funds

The APRA has the task of protecting the interests of superannuation fund members, policyholders and depositors under the legislation that the APRA administers. Additionally, they promote the financial system's stability by working in close proximity with the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Australian Treasury.

Furthermore, the APRA has the duty of being the financial sector’s national statistical agency. The data is collected for internal uses and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the Reserve Bank of Australia. The data is provided in their statistical publications.

In this section, we will provide you with an in-depth look at the specific laws that the APRA is responsible for upholding, the crimes to protect against and what industries it oversees.

• Regulations: the APRA is responsible for operating under the laws of the Australian Government. The laws provide the APRA with formal powers that can be used to enforce the law on behalf of the Australian Government.

• The APRA has created a prudential framework for the banking, insurance and superannuation industries. Additions and changes to this framework go through a period of public debate and consultation before being set in stone.

• Crimes: crimes the APRA protects against are completed with other Australian regulatory bodies. However, it takes part in stopping money laundering, unauthorised banking practices, theft, identity fraud and counterfeit activity.

• Industries: the industries that the APRA is in charge of overseeing include authorised deposit-taking institutions (banks, credit unions), general insurance, life insurance and friendly societies, private health insurance and superannuation.

• Accountability: the APRA is accountable to the Australian Government. They provided the APRA with the relevant powers by law to carry out their duties.

Now let us turn our attention toward the responsibilities of the AFCA. This will provide insight into how the AFCA supports the money transfer industry. Therefore, you will have more confidence in using the Australian financial system.

The AFCA is not a regulator, so they do not have powers handed down from the Australian Government. However, they have more of a supportive role in managing the Australian financial markets. Also, they are not a for-profit organization.

They are responsible for all aspects of the Australian financial markets. This means welcoming businesses from any financial industry and dealing with many complaints. Their responsibility is to process claims as fast as possible to achieve an adequate resolution. When both parties feel like they have been heard, this promotes trust in the Australian economy.

This section will include various aspects of what the AFCA covers. Therefore, you can better understand the organization's scope and where its responsibilities end.

Regulations: since the AFCA is not a regulator, they are not responsible for ensuring that specific regulations are upheld. However, they accept all types of cases within the entire spectrum of Australian financial market regulations. The nature of a complaint can mean that several regulations might be broken. Also, the AFCA looks closely at whether specific laws have been breached before reaching a verdict.

Therefore, the AFCA needs to understand the specifics of all financial regulations to deal with cases effectively and reach a fair conclusion.

Crimes: the AFCA does not deal with crimes since that is the role of regulators. Instead, they deal with complaints mainly about rule-breaking issues and disagreements about specific laws. For example, some financial rules have a lot of nuance and interpretation, so conflicts between businesses and consumers can arise. The AFCA ensures that these conflicts are resolved, and a fair version of the regulation in question is used.

Industries: the industries that the AFCA covers include credit, loans, finance, insurance, banking deposits and payments, investments, and financial advice and superannuation. They cover all aspects of these industries, so consumers and businesses can file complaints about any issue.

Accountability: the AFCA is accountable to the Australian Government, the businesses, and people using the Australian Financial markets. The board of directors has an equal amount of consumer and industry experts, so each side is fairly represented.