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AUSTRAC probes Afterpay after anti-money laundering risks
Afterpay Touch has announced that it is being monitored by the federal financial intelligence agency due to the possibility of it being in breach of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law.
AUSTRAC probes Afterpay after anti-money laundering risks
Afterpay Touch has announced that it is being monitored by the federal financial intelligence agency due to the possibility of it being in breach of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law.
In a statement to the ASX, Afterpay said it has not identified any money laundering or terrorism financing activities via its systems to date.
However, it is currently in dialogue with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) regarding issues that have been raised regarding its AML/CTF compliance. The outcome of these conversations have yet to be determined.
In July 2018, the company amended its AML/CTF compliance framework to incorporate obligations in relation to the services provided to customers, including external identity verification and other processes used by Afterpay customers.
To combat the potential issue, Afterpay is in the process of appointing a professional services firm to conduct an independent review of the design and operations of its AML/CTF framework. The goal of this is to see whether any further improvements or actions can, or should, be made.
The share price of Afterpay Touch fell by around 2 per cent following the announcement and were trading at 23.45 per share at the close of business on Thursday (6 June).
In its release to the ASX, Afterpay also reported some positive financial results, with underlying sales rising to $4.7 billion in the 11 months to 31 May 2019. This is an increase of 143 per cent on the prior comparable period.
Afterpay also announced it currently has more than 1.5 million active customers with 3,300 active merchants in the United States. These include new brands to Afterpay, including Levi’s, Ray-Ban and Windsor.
Afterpay has also expanded into the UK market, with a soft test of operations.
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