Two major lenders have rejected the celebrated fintech over concerns it was high-risk due to suspicious payments patterns and hard-to-identify customers.
Justice Jonathan Beach said the integrity of Australia's financial system depends on compliance with anti-money laundering laws in handing down his decision to approve the $1.3 billion fine.
Correspondent bank relationships enable Australians to send money overseas. But are major banks,like Westpac,doing everything they can to stop criminal activity?
The big banks'approach to anti-money laundering laws has once again come under the spotlight.
Afterpay has received an all-clear from the Australian financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC but will need to be on its toes as it expands it global reach.
Lawyers leading the class action against Westpac say the AUSTRAC settlement will help their case.
AUSTRAC has secured a record-breaking fine from Westpac and is now cemented as the toughest regulator in Australia. But up until a few years ago it was barely on the radar of Australian companies.
Westpac's $1.3 billion fine will dwarf all previous civil penalties for misconduct ever handed down in Australia.
Westpac has announced it will pay a $1.3 billion fine,the largest in Australian corporate history,for breaching anti-money laundering laws and for failing to stop child exploitation payments.
Senior figures at the bank held a conference call on Wednesday to discuss a penalty that could exceed $1 billion and surpass CBA's fine in 2018.
A leak of secret bank data shows that more than $230 million of possibly dirty money flowed through the two Australian banks.