AML/CFT Challenge or Opportunity

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.