General
The role of designated non-financial services businesses in laundering funds in Australia
OPINION: At the present time Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws do not apply to certain designated non-financial services businesses (DNFSBs), which is a major vulnerability against efforts to thwart financial crime. This article today has it all: a $10 million payment to buy a luxury waterfront mansion in Brisbane made by ASX-listed Horizon…
Read MoreAnti-money laundering law breaches
OPINION: BREAKING BAD (NEWS) – While the world is in panic there has probably never been a better time to break some bad news and yesterday it was HSBC Australia’s turn to self report compliance breaches to AUSTRAC. At this point in time it is unclear what obligations the compliance breaches relate to, how many…
Read MoreWhat is the true cost of financial crime compliance?
OPINION: Earlier this week LexisNexis Risk Solutions released the results of its global True Cost of Financial Crime Compliance Study which polled nearly 900 financial crime compliance decision makers and found that financial institutions spent $181 billion on financial crime compliance last year. In Europe, financial institutions spent 3 to 4 times ($137bn) what their nearest…
Read MoreRisk management during COVID-19
OPINION: Last week, the President of FATF has issued a statement encouraging the governments of FATF-member countries to utilise the principles of the risk-based approach in addressing challenges presented by COVID-19, as well as, remaining vigilant to new and emerging threats resulting from an increase in fraud and exploitation scams including trafficking in counterfeit medicines,…
Read MoreProperty continues to be the AML weak link in Australia
Australia is still lagging behind global standards in the developed world when it comes to combating the flow of illicit money entering the property market. AUSTRAC has estimated that there were AUD$1billion worth of suspicious transactions in the Australian property market from China in the 2016 fiscal year. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has…
Read MorePayPal Australia ordered by AUSTRAC to have AML audit
AUSTRAC has ordered an external auditor be appointed by PayPal Australia to examine ongoing concerns regarding PayPal Australia’s compliance with the AML/CTF Act. In the next 120 days, the appointed external auditor must report on PayPal Australia’s compliance with According to a PayPal Australia spokesperson, PayPal has self-disclosed “an issue” relating to International Fund Transfer…
Read MoreIs Australia’s methamphetamine problem falling down the cracks (slight pun intended!)?
If you thought it was just Antarctica that has a major ice problem you’d be wrong, Australia is facing an ice problem of epidemic proportions. After reading recent articles over the last two months on a couple of substantial drug busts thwarted by the Australian Federal Police, it got me thinking about the sheer volume…
Read MoreConcerns over use of spreadsheets to manage AML Compliance
In a recent industry presentation to risk and compliance managers in Australia by regulatory software provider Arctic Intelligence, an audience poll revealed 54% of respondents listed reliance on spreadsheets for risk assessment which may no longer be fit-for-purpose for conducting anti-money laundering (AML) risk assessments as one of their top three concerns. The poll also…
Read MoreConsultant case study: Aub Chapman consulting services
We invited AML/CTF consultant, Aub Chapman from Aub Chapman Consulting Services, to share his thoughts on why he uses AML Accelerate on client engagements. When I’m doing independent audits, I find that clients have deficiencies or misunderstandings in two fundamental areas. The first is, do they really understand the risks that their industry or their…
Read MoreIs Excel really fit for purpose to run risk and compliance assessments?
Author: Anthony Quinn, CEO and Founder, Arctic Intelligence I am often asked by prospective banking and consulting clients to help them justify why they should adopt RegTech and not continue using spreadsheets for managing risk and compliance engagements. So it got me thinking and here are my top 15 reasons why RegTech beats Excel hands…
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