RESERVE Bank auditors uncovered repeated warning signs of corruption at a company it owned, a court has heard - but the bank's board failed to stop the practices in question.

An explosive auditors' report exhibited yesterday at the committal of eight former executives appears to contradict the testimonies of Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens, who has insisted in numerous parliamentary hearings that the bank was unaware of bribery allegations until The Age exposed the scandal in 2009.

A statement by the auditor, John Anthony Klincke , tendered to court, also revealed auditors learnt in 2007 that Securency, half-owned by the RBA, was using an agent believed to have links to the Vietnamese intelligence services.

Barrister Neil Clelland, SC, said yesterday there was "a long history of concern by the Reserve Bank board in relation to the lax corporate governance of Note Printing Australia", its wholly owned subsidiary.

The prosecution has alleged that multimillion-dollar payments were arranged for foreign government officials via overseas agents, for the purpose of securing lucrative banknote-printing contracts.