Two banks snared by Austrac

Barclays Bank and Mega International failed over a period of years to prevent their services from being used by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime or to finance terrorist operations, The Australian reported.

Austrac, the regulator that monitors suspicious financial transactions, said the agency had accepted undertakings from both banks to review their procedures.

"I would call them significant breaches," Austrac chief Neil Jensen told the newspaper. "This is just the start of powers Austrac will be using."