WESTPAC

For as little as 15 Australian dollars (about US$10 or 500 Philippine Peso), pedophiles in Australia can watch children perform sexual acts online while the abuse is being filmed in the Philippines. Senior officer Andrew Perkins, of the Australian federal police (AFP) team in Manila, told the Guardian Australia that this is an “alarming shift” toward “convenient and low-risk” activity compared to the more common “sex tourism” involving the abuse of children.

Westpac CEO resigns amid money-laundering scandal

Westpac is being accused of failing to report and monitor suspicious payments and transactions over several years, including payments made by child sex offenders.

Australia's Westpac faces huge fine for money-laundering breaches

Westpac is one of Australia's four largest financial institutions

Many big banks are striking partnership deals or buying a stake in fintech start-ups. The Sibos financial services conference held in London recently revealed these trends and the reasons behind such partnerships.

China's consumer sentiment plunged in October as households curbed spending, worried by recent discouraging economic data, according to a new survey.

Three goals from Oribe Peralta sent Mexico on their way to a victory over New Zealand in Wellington to seal their passage to the World Cup.

Asian shares retreated from four-month highs Tuesday as markets paused from last week's rallies, calculating the impact on growth from the Federal Reserve's aggressive stimulus and eyeing whether Spain will request a bailout to ease its fiscal strains.

Asian shares eased Thursday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision later in the day, but investors remained optimistic of further stimulus action to bolster the world's largest economy.

Markets from stocks to currencies were caught in ranges Tuesday as investors waited for a gathering of central bankers and economists at Jackson Hole, Wyo., later in the week for clues over the Federal Reserve's potential easing options.

Asian shares retreated from a two-week high Friday on scaled back expectations of more stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve and growth concerns after manufacturing surveys from the euro zone and China depicted a bleak outlook.

China and Brazil finalized an agreement on Thursday to exchange national currencies worth up to $30 billion as part of bilateral efforts to shore up reserves in times of crisis.

Spain's Bankia S.A. requested the country's government provide it with a bailout worth ?19 billion ($24 billion) on Friday, the same day Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it lowered its ratings on five financial institutions based in the Iberian nation.

China's central bank expanded the yuan's reference rate against the dollar to another record high on Friday, in a nod to calls from the U.S. to loosen growth restrictions on the currency's value.