If you
Google a bit you’ll find plenty of articles with the terms “AML/CFT” and
“challenge” used together. But is it just that? Or is there more to it? Of
course the field of AML/CFT is at times challenging but so are many other areas
of running a bank. If a financial institution does it well it offers
opportunities as well.
We often
classify AML/CFT under regulatory risk, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Other reputational risks exist in connotation with AML/CFT and the actual risk
of AML/CFT is of course, that a bank or financial institution actually helps to
finance the drugs trade, human trafficking or terrorist activities. More and
more institutions try to ‘do the right thing’ – see our own i-KYC slogan “Integrity
Means Business” (www.i-kyc.com) or the motto
of a recently founded Singaporean
compliance platform: “G.R.A.C.E. : doing right” (www.gracedoingright.com) and many more.
Doing
business in an ethical and sustainable way is of more and more importance. To
attract staff, investors and customers alike. The wider stakeholder arena is
more and more interested in integrity, and institutions that take risks
seriously. Financial institutions that try to balance risk and reward can use
that as a competitive advantage.
