Money laundering and terrorist funding activities are continuing to gain strength and prominence according to a managing director in PwC’s Advanced Risk & Compliance Analytics practice.

Vikas Agarwal is largely reiterating the findings of a comprehensive PWC report published a year ago on trade based money laundering.

Increasing sophistication
“Today’s trade-based money laundering activity goes beyond traditional laundering of criminal funds to include terrorist financing and intentional efforts to circumvent international sanctions,” said Agarwal.

“To evade detection, traffickers are becoming more sophisticated in their methods, and financial institutions should remain two steps ahead by deploying advanced analytical and statistical techniques,” he added.

Trade-based money laundering activity is now an issue that has become a top concern in board rooms across the globe Agarwal said in a statement.

Shared concerns
The PWC statement was issued the day after the release of an Ernst & Young (EY) report that identified trade-based money laundering as a key compliance issue (Newsflow, 7 January 2015).

Both firms stress the need for robust controls and monitoring systems in the face of ever-developing money laundering activities.

A full copy of PWC’s January 2014 report can be found at: http://www.pwc.com/us/en/cfodirect/issues/risk-management/trade-finance-money-launderings.jhtml

Categories: Trade Based Financial crimes News