Over the past 12 months the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has seen the number of suspicious matter reports increase by 51%.

As a result, AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator has taken a hardline approach with a number of landmark cases and penalties issued. In fact, as a result of the landmark $700 million penalty against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2018, there has been a sharp lift in “self-disclosure” from companies it regulates. This means more review, more action and more coordination will have to be done in months and years ahead.

View the latest report on The State of Financial Crime 2019 to understand how AUSTRAC plans to support reporting entities and private sector partners mitigate risks and strengthen the financial system. 

The financial services industry invests huge amounts of resources to tackle financial crime, however the scale and impact of the problem are immense, with criminals continually evolving their capabilities to exploit the existing AML framework. This is because the current regulatory framework is not effective enough to empower financial institutions to combat the continuously evolving networks and tools available to criminals.

Based on interviews with key players from financial institutions and law enforcement as well as policy makers and regulators, this report from Deloitte UK, in conjunction with The Institute of International Finance, The global framework for fighting financial crime, explores seven key areas in financial crime regulation:

• Global systemic improvements for financial crime risk management
• Advancing public private partnership
• Improving cross-border and domestic information sharing
• Improving the use and quality of data
• Reforming suspicious activity reporting (SARs)
• Mitigating the inconsistent or incoherent implementation of financial crime compliance standards and guidance, and providing regulatory clarity
• Increasing and improving the use of technology to combat illicit finance

To learn more grab a copy of the report now. 

Ahead of the 6th Australian Financial Crime Summit, we chat to Kathleen Gaynor, Learning & Development Lead, Group Compliance at ANZ Bank, on fighting fincrime amidst new wave of regulations.

You'll gain insights into:

• 3 key priorities of focus in preparation for the new wave of compliance
• Key capabilities required to address financial crime mitigation
• Promoting cross-industry collaboration for fincrime

Darren Crowhurst, Detective Brevet Sergeant, Major Fraud Investigation Section (156) was the lead Detective on ‘Operation Profiteer’, an investigation conducted in 2016 by the SA Police – Major Fraud Investigation Section into money laundering.  The investigation identified 43 scam/fraud victims worldwide, and resulted in the arrest of an offender for over 600 counts of money laundering totaling nearly 700,000 dollars.

Based on his experience during the investigation, in this article Darren shares the key detection methods and red flags that led to the identification and arrest of a South Australian criminal, and the lessons organisations in the financial services sector can learn from the investigation to strengthen their own AML programs.

In order to overcome these problems and prevent them from occurring in the first place, local governments need to employ closer monitoring, greater compliance with governance frameworks, and embed an organisational wide culture that encourages employees to raise concerns and assures their protection in this occurrence.

With this in mind, ahead of the Australian Financial Crime Summit 2020, we caught up with Alan MacSporran, QC Chairperson at the Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland. Alan outlines strategies and best practice for local governments to follow as a means of reducing internal misconduct. 

In this interview, Graham Leney, Head of Group Financial Crime Compliance at AMP explores AMP’s approach to identifying crime and corruption and how new technologies can aid in the prevention of money laundering, fraud and corruption.

Ahead of the Australian Financial Crime Summit 2020 take a look at some of the most highly rated presentations from the 2019 event. 

Explore exclusive insights from: 

• Crime and Corruption Commission
• NAB
• Unisuper

This article explores 7 key focus areas banks and other financial organisations can consider to establish and maintain robust and integrated AML and CTF programs.

Read this article to learn more from leading experts from ANZ, Kiwibank, AMP, AIG, QSuper and Darren who share insight into the key strategies which can be used to better detect and manage financial crime.

This paper sets forth five key areas that compliance officers should consider as they assess and prioritize investments to pave the foundation for their future financial crimes programs.

1. Culture of compliance
2. Integration
3. Data and technology infrastructure
4. Regulatory change management
5. Staffing model and digital labor