WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's central bank said on Wednesday that it would look closely at findings by Australia's financial crime watchdog calling Westpac Banking Corp's WBC.AX anti-money laundering oversight "deficient".

“We ... will be looking closely at the Australian findings and if they have relevance for Westpac NZ,” said Reserve Bank of New Zealand deputy governor Geoff Bascand in a statement.

Australian regulator AUSTRAC has accused Westpac, Australia’s second-largest bank and parent company to a New Zealand subsidiary, of 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering rules.