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Financial crime trends guidance issued by accountants

By Mark Ford on April 1, 2022

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) have produced an instalment on financial crime trends for their Anti-Money Laundering: The Basics educational series.

It looks at the trends in criminal activity that underpin money laundering operations and provides advice on how to identify criminality in financial dealings.

TBML in scope

The crime trends instalment covers trade-based money laundering (TBML); drug trafficking; human trafficking; modern slavery and sexual exploitation; environmental crime and illegal wildlife trade; terrorist financing, and corruption.

For each of these types of criminal activity, the document sets out key risk indicators that professional accountants should actively be alert for to ensure that they do not unwittingly act as professional enablers.

Risk-based approach

To be globally relevant, the series uses the risk-based approach of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a starting point.

The series aims to help accountants enhance their understanding of how money laundering works, the risks accountants face and what they can do to mitigate them and make a positive contribution to the public interest.

Role of accountants

Accountants have a key role to play in the fight against crime and subsequent attempts to launder the proceeds of criminal activity, according senior lead, ethics at ICAEW, David Gomez;

“It is vital that professional accountants understand the risks they should look out for and, where they have concerns, file timely and effective Suspicious Activity Reports,” he says.

The IFAC/ICAEW instalment, Anti-Money Laundering: The Basics. Crime Trends, can be found here.