The risks to banks and their executives from non-compliance with anti-money-laundering regulations are increasing dramatically. The United Nations estimates that as much as $2 trillion (5 percent) of global GDP is laundered. Since 2018, the exits of CEOs from Westpac, Swedbank and Danske Bank underscore the consequences. To effectively manage money-laundering risks, bank executives need to have sound answers from their compliance, security and IT professionals to five core questions.
Most banks have processed the message that they need to change if they plan to stay competitive in today’s financial world, increasingly infiltrated by fintech and bigtech disruptors. But the change that is required goes beyond changing strategy; it involves transforming the entire culture of a bank, from the top down. What are the practical steps banks must take to change their internal cultures and use technology most effectively?
After the announcement in January from the Malta Financial Services Authority, stating the significant pending changes to Maltese pension regulations, both companies and advisers alike felt the net tighten around their daily practices.
Money-laundering activities should have received a fatal blow from the scandals revealed in such documents as the Panama Papers, but recent events paint a different picture: the offshore finance industry and money laundering continue to be alive and well! Financial institutions that find AML compliance an escalating struggle are not alone, but the costs of non-compliance are even more taxing. It’s past time for banks to take a closer look at their client portfolios.
The word compliance may hit a sour note for some bankers, but in the end, compliance demonstrates commitment to transparency, integrity and best practices. If only compliance wasn’t so complicated and costly. Effective data archiving is necessary to make data repositories what they must be. Most banks archive data, but many need to upgrade their processes. What are the five elements that financial firms should include in their data-archiving overhauls?
The Great Recession produced a number of aftershocks, including a tidal wave of regulations (with the?) intent on preventing the same event from ever happening again. A mismatch between increasingly complex and detailed international standards and ever more uneven implementation by national authorities ensued. Consistent, harmonized adoption of financial standards by all involved is necessary to ensure smooth global processes. Some suggestions are presented in this article.
If last year was any indication of what financial markets will look like in 2019, we are in for a very bumpy ride. Last December alone, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell and rose more than 8 percent as finance experts struggled to make heads or tails of a bizarre political climate, unsteady interest rates and global tariffs.
In the decade following the global financial crisis, banks have faced a flood of new laws and regulations. The pace of change has been furious. Banks have been forced to hire more and more bodies to manage large, enterprise-wide efforts in an attempt to simply stay ahead of regulatory enforcement actions and the ensuing fines and penalties.
The decade following the financial crisis unleashed a torrent of regulatory requirements. Financial institutions have spent billions on technology and operations to achieve regulatory compliance; the frequency of new requirements is high. Despite all of this, regulators have not been satisfied with the quality of the data and level of transparency. How can banks and regulators strike a balance between the costs and the benefits of regulation?
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) regulates banks operating in the country to ensure a safe and efficient domestic financial system, but a high percentage of bank assets that fall under its domain are foreign owned, leading to the challenge of compliance with the bank’s home regulations and New Zealand’s, as its host. However, foreign-owned banks can and do thrive in New Zealand’s soundly maintained financial sector.