Corporate Learning & Development

Money laundering is the process of making the proceeds of crime look legitimate, and financing of terrorism often moves through the same channels. The Financial Action Task Force sets the international standard, and countries write it into law: South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre Act, the UK's Money Laundering Regulations, the European Union's anti-money laundering directives and Kenya's Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act are examples. Typically they require certain businesses to identify their clients, understand the risk each one presents, keep records, and report suspicious transactions to a financial intelligence unit, such as South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre.

The approach is risk-based: more care where the risk is higher, less where it is lower. That demands judgement, not only procedure. A rule is easy to follow and a pattern is easy to miss, so staff need to know what unusual looks like in their own part of the business, and feel able to raise it without fear. Weak controls expose the institution, and sometimes the individuals involved, to serious penalties.

This theme is about understanding what the law asks, why it asks it, and how to build checks that work in practice.