Afterpay share price higher following AUSTRAC and SPP update

The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) share price has pushed higher following the release of an AUSTRAC and share purchase plan update…

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The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has pushed higher in morning trade following the release of an update on its dealings with AUSTRAC.

At the time of writing the payments company's shares are up 2% to $26.25.

What was announced?

This morning Afterpay Touch announced that it has now provided AUSTRAC with details of three candidates for conducting the external audit of its Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) program.

In addition to this, a dedicated sub-committee charged with assisting and reporting to the Afterpay board in relation to the oversight and management of the external audit process, engaging with AUSTRAC, and other AML/CTF matters has been established. This will be led by independent non-executive director Elana Rubin.

The company also reiterated that "it welcomes the opportunity to continue to work closely and constructively with AUSTRAC and will approach this formal process as an opportunity to ensure that our AML/CTF compliance is robust."

Share purchase plan deferred.

The company's plan to raise a further $30 million at $23.00 per share via a share purchase plan (SPP) has now been temporarily postponed.

The release explains that "the Afterpay Board has determined that it would be in the interests of shareholders to defer the SPP until the Company has considered the final audit report and its recommendations."

If and when the directors decide to proceed with the SPP, the record date will continue to be 7:00pm (Sydney time) on June 7 2019. In addition to this, the company will issue shares at the lower of $23.00 and the 5-day VWAP of Afterpay shares up to the SPP closing date.

Share sale update.

Afterpay Touch also advised that its co-founders Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar, who recently offloaded a large number of shares, will not be selling any shares during FY 2020.

The two are "fully committed to the business and remain as excited as ever by the potential to build an Australian listed global technology company that is focused on delivering a customer-centric and trusted service to a global audience."

Elsewhere in the tech sector today, the shares of Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) are trading lower following a sizeable decline by the technology-focused Nasdaq index overnight.

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and Altium. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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