Castra, Princeton penalised over AUSTRAC breaches

Binaya Dahal

Journalist

28 May 2026

The Federal Court of Australia has imposed penalties of $50,000 on Castra Licensee Pty Ltd and $45,000 on Princeton Securities (NSW) Pty Ltd after the firms failed to pay $18,780 infringement notices issued by AUSTRAC, the financial intelligence regulator.

The original infringement notices, issued in September 2024, were part of enforcement action against 16 businesses for alleged failures to submit annual compliance reports for the 2023 calendar year under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006.

Payment of the notices would have finalised the matter, but neither Castra nor Princeton paid, prompting AUSTRAC to escalate the case into civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court.

In separate judgments delivered on Tuesday, the court also ordered Castra to pay $15,000 in costs and Princeton to pay $5,000 in costs, taking the combined financial impact to more than $115,000.

AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said infringement notices are a key enforcement tool that must be taken seriously and failure to pay only creates unnecessary burden on all parties involved.

“These businesses were given warnings and when they failed to comply, were issued infringement notices,” Thomas said.  “If a business does not pay their infringement notice they risk ending up spending time and effort, and ultimately more money, resolving the matter through the court.”

Both companies admitted liability during the proceedings, with Princeton and AUSTRAC also making joint submissions on the appropriate penalty, which were considered by the court.

The cases form part of a broader push by AUSTRAC to tighten compliance enforcement across Australia’s regulated financial sector, where it has repeatedly warned that reporting obligations are not optional.

“This outcome makes it clear that businesses must respond to infringement notices within the statutory deadline or risk significant penalties,” Thomas said.