Austrac is preparing to scrap the way it authorises external auditors to conduct anti-money laundering assessments of Australian financial institutions amid internal concern that independent consultants are commercially exploiting the recognition given to them by the financial intelligence agency.There are currently 62 external auditors authorised by Austrac to evaluate AML and counter-terrorism financing policies of more than 14,000 companies, including banks, credit unions, money remitters and superannuation funds.While a list of the authorised auditors is published on the agency's website, AUSTRAC told Banking Day that it never intended the list to carry official public endorsement or accreditation from the regulator.Banking Day has identified at least six external auditors who promote their businesses to corporate clients as "Austrac-approved".Others use their LinkedIn profiles to highlight their "accreditation by Austrac".One auditor promotes himself to private sector clients as an "Austrac authorised auditor" and states on his website the following:"It means (name withheld) is accredited by the highest regulatory agency in the country to act on your behalf for all matters under the AML Act."The widespread practice has riled Austrac, which insists it only intended the list of authorised AML auditing experts to be used by the agency for appointing consultants to do risk assessments and compliance reviews of entities it supervises."We outline to auditors that individuals don't trade on the authorisation we give them by their inclusion on the list," said an Austrac spokesperson."The Austrac application process requires a statutory declaration that the applicant will not take any improper commercial advantage of being authorised."Individuals may be removed if their conduct is considered inappropriate or undesirable."In practice, however, thousands of Australian companies and financial services licensees have perceived the list as an official register of consultants authorised to advise industry on compliance with AML and CTF laws.Banking Day spoke with several consultants on the list, who each questioned why Austrac made their names public if it did not intend their authorisations to hold weight with reporting entities.One AML auditor, whose local client base is drawn mostly from the SME sector said that he was recently approached to advise a Wall Street behemoth only because his name appeared on Austrac's authorised list."In countries like the US authorisation carries significance," the AML auditor told Banking Day on condition of anonymity."I have no doubt that I've earned some extra coin by having my name on the list."It's highly unusual for a regulator to publish a list of authorised auditors without giving any warranty as to their competence and skill sets."The question has to be asked: why does the list even exist?"Another auditor said he was not surprised that Austrac was planning to revoke all authorisations because there appeared to have been cracks in the application process in the past."When I applied for authorisation a few years ago they asked me whether I had experience in AML compliance but they never asked to see any compliance reports I had done," he said."I'm pretty confident about my knowledge and skills in risk management but it raised a question in