Robert Ansell, head of US cash equities for Macquarie Group, left the bank weeks before a colleague alleged in a lawsuit that she was pressured into having an affair with him, Bloomberg and the AFR report. Ansell pushed Khristina McLaughlin, now head of US sales for cash equities, to begin a relationship in 2015 and continue it until this year, according to a complaint she filed last Friday in US federal court in Manhattan. She's suing Ansell and the Australian bank's US unit for $US40 million, saying co-workers are now ostracising her, making her job impossible. The Commonwealth Government is to introduce rules aimed at paying small businesses worth up to A$1 million within 20 calendar day equivalent to 15-business-day payment terms for small business suppliers, down from the current policy of 30 days. "This announcement is part of our response to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman's report into payment times and practices," the Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and Minister for Small Business announced jointly. Kate Carnell, Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman welcomed the Federal Government's move. Her report had cited the European Union, which estimates that each day of reduction in late payment times saves European companies approximately €158 million in financing costs. The first regional risk assessment of non-profit organisations across eight Asia-Pacific nations, launched at the Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit in Kuala Lumpur this week, has identified a medium risk of terrorism financing. It suggests regional authorities improve data collection to identify, monitor and disrupt high risk NPOs and vet personnel to make it harder for terrorists to infiltrate NPO finances. Ministers representing financial intelligence agencies from Australia, Indonesia and host nation Malaysia said the work was "ground breaking", with analyses from the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and new partners Brunei and New Zealand.  The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's new report, "Crypto-currencies - an introduction to not-so-funny moneys", warns that, as a niche payment system, they do not currently pose a material financial stability risks but risks could rise if they become more popular and/or integrated with the activities of financial institutions. They also raise consumer protection and AML-CTF concerns, the report says - while warning people that any individual currency may turn out to be the Betamax or MySpace of payments, rather than VHS and Facebook. Despite all the warnings, the report also notes that the RBNZ is currently investigating "whether it would be feasible for the Reserve Bank to replace the physical currency [notes and coins] that currently circulates with a digital alternative".