Westpac bank

In a statement the Bank says it will continue to grow alongside its customers and the economies of Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Westpac says it believes it has a great role to play in this region with their ability to be a strong, stable and trusted financial partner in the Pacific.

Westpac Pacific Managing Director, Damien MacRae, says the Bank has proudly supported Fiji’s and PNGs economic growth and development for more than a century and they are well placed to continue this support.

The penalty is the biggest in Australian corporate history, and is almost double the previous record $700 million fine paid by the Commonwealth Bank for almost 54,000 money laundering breaches, revealed by the ABC in 2017.

In a statement, AUSTRAC said Westpac had admitted to breaching the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act more than 23 million times.

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is responsible for picking up criminal abuse of the financial system in Australia.

The ABC reported one of Australia's biggest banks told the Nauru government it will no longer do business with it or any of its entities.

The bank, Westpac, has also told its Australian customers who do business with the Nauru government that they will have to close their accounts by the end of the month.