Know Your Customer compliance costs have never been higher for banks in Europe. This thesis looks at the application of blockchain technology to reduce Know Your Customer compliance costs. The work within aims to utilise the strengths of blockchain technology in order to reduce the costs of compliance for banks. This is done through collaboration with industry partners, resulting in a system designed to meet banks’ needs. The contributions of this work are: 1) A system which enables data sharing between banks, enabling 2) reduc tion of costs by at least 45%, and 3) reducing or eliminating over reliance on third parties, 4) an exploration of how to price data within the system is made in order to help banks further reduce their costs, 5) reduction of chain size by reducing the size of contract creation transactions in Ethereum by 90% for standard users, lastly, 6) to better understand the functionality and purpose of smart contracts. The system is the first of its kind to remove the requirement of third party storage solutions, and is the first to explore pricing aspects in detail.

De senaste åren har Finansinspektionen rapporterat nya fall kring penningtvätt där etablerade storbanker har stått i rampljuset i negativ bemärkelse. Rapporterade fall av penningtvätt ökar årligen inom Sverige och detta kan betyda att det finns brister inom det förebyggande arbetet mot penningtvätt eller att banker bland annat, har blivit bättre på att upptäcka penningtvätt. Banker och Finansinspektionen befinner sig på frontlinjen för vårt finansiella system och därför är det väsentligt att dessa aktörer innehar verktyg och metoder för att förhindra penningtvätt som utgör ett hot mot det finansiella system och den allmänna demokratin. Årligen rapporterar Finanspolisen att det tvättas ca 130 miljarder kr inom den svenska ekonomin och att de nuvarande trenderna dessvärre inte pekar på en nedgång. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till en ökad förståelse kring hur banker arbetar i förebyggande syfte mot penningtvätt och hur de samspelar med Finansinspektionen för att få bukt med denna brottslighet. För att samla in datamaterialet genomfördes totalt sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med anställda från tre storbanker inom Sverige och en intervju med en anställd från Finansinspektionen. Det empiriska resultatet tydliggjorde att bankerna förlitar sig mycket på användningen av interna verktyg som kundkännedom - KYC och att kundkännedom är ett omfattande verktyg som innefattar ett flertal sekretessbelagda element som alla har ett identiskt syfte, att kartlägga och identifiera risker. Slutsatserna visar att det sker ett omfattande arbete i förebyggande syfte mot penningtvätt där banker årligen avsätter miljontals kronor för att göra ett gediget arbete. Det riskbaserade förhållningssättet till regelverken innebär att det fortfarande lämnas utrymme för banker att förbättra sina interna processer i det förebyggande arbetet mot penningtvätt, trots det faktum att det finns en medvetenhet om att brottslingarna ligger steget före. Samtidigt kan detta kompenseras av mer vägledning i de föreskrifter som ges av Finansinspektionen. En annan väsentlig slutsats vi har kommit fram till är att samspelet med Finansinspektionen inte alls fungerar på samma sätt som Finansinspektionen förmedlar att det gör. Den viktigaste delen av detta samarbete gick ut på att tillföra varandra med nya rapporter och föreskrifter, inte att samspela med andra aktörer för att få bukt med penningtvätt. / In the last couple of years, The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority have reported new cases of money laundering where established major banks have been in the limelight in a negative sense. Reported cases of money laundering are increasing annually in Sweden, which indicates that there are shortcomings in the preventive work against money laundering or that banks are better at finding money laundering cases. Banks and The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority are at the forefront of the preventive work against money laundering and therefore it is essential that these organizations possess tools and methods to prevent the emergence of money laundering and identify risks that pose a threat to our financial system and thus to the general democracy. Annually, The Financial Police reports that about SEK 130 billion is laundered in the Swedish economy and that the current trends unfortunately do not point to a decline. The purpose of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of how banks work in preventive purpose against money laundering. As well as how banks interact with The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority to overcome money laundering. In order to collect the data, a total of six semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees from three established banks within Sweden and one from The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. The conclusions show that a great deal of work is done in a preventive purpose against money laundering where banks allocate millions of SEK every year to do a solid job. Banks rely heavily on the use of internal tools such as know your customer and internal regulations which is a tool that can be used to get customer awareness. But in practice, the riskbased approach to the regulations means that banks still need to improve their internal processes in the preventive work despite the fact that criminals are considered to be one step ahead. At the same time, this can be offset by more guidance in the regulations that the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority has as a task, to make sure that the banks are following the rules in the market. Another significant conclusion we have reached in the study is that the interaction with The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority does not work at all in the same way that The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority mediates that it does. The most important part of this collaboration was to provide each other with new reports and regulations, and not to interact with other organization such as banks to overcome money laundering.

Purpose: This study aims to examine how digitalization affects risk management procedures within Swedish banks in relation to the implementation of GDPR, PSD2 and KYC. Method: The empirical result is due to semi-structured interviews with four bank representatives from the Swedish bank sector as well as three representatives from the Swedish RegTech industry. The interviews took place in person or via telephone. Empirics and Conclusion: The result shows that digitalization has affected the way Swedish banks handle their risks. New risks have emerged resulting in a more complex environment, where several factors need to be taken into consideration such as operational risks. Depending on the type of bank, different risk strategies have been identified. The bank- and RegTech representatives point out several aspects that need to be improved to make risk management more efficient. This includes increased digital automatization to handle big data more efficiently resulting in more adequate KYC analysis. Lastly the empirical result shows that digital banks together with RegTech companies set the normative standard on how to approach risk management in a digital era. From a new institutional perspective legitimacy is attained when banks conform to present norms within the industry caused by the three types of isomorphism. Where the institutional forces mould, construct and regulate the social structures. Furthermore, nudging can be applied as a tool that banks have been using to adapt to current requirements, by educating their workers and using digital tools to make better decisions. / Syfte: Studien ämnar undersöka hur digitalisering påverkat riskhanteringsprocessen i svenska banker i relation till implementeringen av GDPR, PSD2 och KYC. Metod: Empirin har uppkommit genom semistrukturerade intervjuer genom fyra bankrepresentanter från den svenska banksektorn tillsammans med tre representanter från svenska RegTechbolag. Intervjuerna skedde i person eller via telefon. Empiri och Slutsats: Resultatet visar att den digitalisering som skett inom bankväsendet påverkat bankernas riskhantering. Nya risker har följaktligen uppkommit, vilket resulterat i en mer komplex miljö. Där flera nya faktorer behöver ses över såsom operativa risker. Beroende på typ av bank, har olika riskstrategier identifierats. Bank- och RegTechrepresentanter poängterar att det finns ett flertal förbättringsområden för att effektivisera den nuvarande riskhantering. Detta inkluderar en utökad digital automatisering för att hantera den massiva data som banker dagligen behöver analysera. På så sätt kundkännedomsanalyser förbättrats. Slutligen visar det empiriska resultatet att digitala banker tillsammans med RegTechbolag sätter en normativ standard gällande hur risker skall bemötas i en digital era. Utifrån ett nyinstitutionellt perspektiv, uppnås legitimitet när banker formar sig efter rådande normer orsakat av institutionella krafter. Den likformiga riskhantering som uppstår i industrin kan kopplas till tvingande-, normativ och imiterande isomorfism. Även beteendeinsatser kan utläsas inom bankindustrin för att internt forma och strukturera organisationen efter rådande krav. Detta görs genom digitala riskhanteringsverktyg som förenklar beslutsprocessen samt genom utbildning och kunskap expertis.

Penningtvätt är idag ett samhällsproblem som hotar att förstöra förtroendet för det finansiella systemet och berörda institutioner. Bankerna kan idag betraktas ha ett viktigt ansvar i att förhindra penningtvätt, men trots ansvaret har olika banker i Sverige under de senaste åren fått negativ uppmärksamhet i media och blivit dömda till olika sanktioner. Parallellt med regelverket och den ökade digitaliseringen, värnar bankerna om sina kundrelationer på den konkurrensutsatta marknad där de är verksamma. Det går även att diskutera hur bankernas roll att bekämpa penningtvätt förhåller sig till att de som privata aktörer även har intresse i att bedriva vinstdrivande affärsverksamhet.  Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur banker verksamma i Sverige ser på sin dubbla roll i att bedriva vinstdrivande affärsverksamhet och samtidigt bära ett stort ansvar för att förhindra penningtvätt, vilket kan beskrivas som resurskrävande brottsbekämpning. Vidare är syftet att analysera vad bankernas roll skapar för incitament, möjligheter och utmaningar för banker att förhindra penningtvätt. För att uppnå syftet har bankernas relation gentemot kunder, myndigheter och konkurrenter legat till grund för studiens analysmodell, som har använts för att analysera det insamlade materialet. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod, där semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med experter som dagligen arbetar med penningtvättsfrågor inom banker verksamma i Sverige.  Resultatet i denna studie tyder på att bankerna idag tar sin roll som penningtvättsbekämpare på större allvar, där mer resurser läggs på området än för bara några år sedan. Den ryktesrisk som bankerna idag behöver hantera, samtidigt som de är verksamma på en konkurrensutsatt marknad, har visat sig vara en viktig faktor i hur bankerna ser på sin roll. Trots att resultatet visar på förbättringar, har banker en utmaning i att hänga med i digitaliseringens utveckling, något som hittills mer gynnat de som tvättar pengar än bankerna. En möjlighet som resultatet visar är att bankerna efterfrågar utökat samarbete mellan banker och myndigheter, något som i framtiden kan leda till ett mer effektivt arbete mot penningtvätt. / Money laundering is today a societal problem that threatens to destroy the trust in the financial system and the institutions concerned. Banks can today be considered to have an important responsibility in preventing money laundering. Despite the responsibility, various banks in Sweden have in recent years received negative media attention and been penalized with various sanctions. In parallel with the regulations and the increased digitalization, the banks want to keep their customer relations at the competitive market in which they operate. It is also possible to discuss how banks’ role in preventing money laundering relates to the fact that they, as private actors, also have an interest in making profit as private actors.  The aim of the study is to investigate how banks operating in Sweden view their dual role in making for-profit business operations and at the same time having a big responsibility for preventing money laundering, which can be described as resource-intensive law enforcement. Furthermore, the aim is to analyze what banks’ role creates for incentives, opportunities and challenges for banks to prevent money laundering. To achieve the aim of the study, the banks relationship to customers, authorities and competitors have formed the basis of the analysis model, which has been used to analyze the result from the interviews that have been made. The study was conducted using a qualitative method, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts who work at a daily basis with money laundering questions within banks operating in Sweden.  The results of this study indicate that banks today take their role in combating money laundering more seriously, where more resources are invested in the area comparing with just a few years earlier. The reputation risk that the banks today need to deal with, at the same time as they operate in a competitive market, has proved to be an important factor in how banks view their role. Although the results show improvements, banks have a challenge in keeping up with the digitalization and its development, something that so far have benefited money launderers more than the banks. A possibility that the result shows is that the banks request increased cooperation between banks and authorities, something that in the future may lead to a more efficient work against money laundering.

Syfte: Denna studie undersöker revisorernas roll i att förebygga ekonomisk brottslighet för att öka kunskap och medvetenhet om arbetsuppgifterna och effektiviteten hos revisorer i ett brottsförebyggande syfte. Metod: Studien utgår från en abduktiv forskningsansats med kvalitativ forskningsmetod som används för att få in olika perspektiv med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer från olika intressenter. Studien samlade in primärdata från tre auktoriserade revisorer, en förundersökningsledare från finanspolisen och en ekobrotts revisor från Ekobrottsmyndigheten (EBM).  Slutsats: I slutsatsen framkommer att revisorer spelar en kritisk men komplex roll i brottsförebyggande arbete, som inte alltid är i linje med intressenternas förväntningar. Att stärka revisorernas funktioner och förtydliga lagkraven och etiska normer kan överbrygga förväntningsgapet. Dessutom skulle ett förbättrat samarbete mellan myndigheter och kontinuerlig utbildning av revisorer i nya trender inom ekonomisk brottslighet kunna förbättra revisorernas effektivitet när det gäller att förebygga ekonomisk brottslighet. / Purpose: This study examines the role of auditors in preventing financial crime in order to increase knowledge and awareness of the duties and effectiveness of auditors in crime prevention, to understand the ongoing conflict surrounding the role of the audit industry in these efforts. Method: The study is based on a deductive research approach with a qualitative research approach used to collect in-depth perspectives through semi-structured interviews with respondents from various actors. The study collected primary data from three chartered auditors, a financial police investigator and an economics crime auditor from the Economic Crime Authority (EBM). Conclusion: The conclusion shows that auditors play a critical but complex role in crime prevention work, which is not always in line with actors' expectations. Strengthening auditors' functions and clarifying legal requirements and ethical standards can bridge the expectation gap. In addition, improved cooperation between agencies and continuous training of auditors in new trends in financial crime could improve auditors' effectiveness in preventing financial crime.

The illicit practice of money laundering (ML) poses global challenges, causing harmful repercussions for society. Legislators worldwide have placed financial institutions at the forefront of initiatives aimed at preventing ML. Even with the adoption of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures, financial institutions continue to face challenges in combating illicit financial activity. Prior investigations primarily concentrated on evaluating the regulatory framework itself, leaving gaps in understanding other aspects causing ineffective AML efforts. Going further in-depth, this study aims to explore how institutional pressure leads to ineffective ML prevention within Finnish financial institutions. To address these challenges, the institutional theory and several concepts supported the exploration of the institutional environment, with due consideration given to social constructs. Furthermore, a qualitative approach is employed due to the exploratory nature of this study. It consists of the analysis of both classified and public official documents from the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), interviews held with representatives actively involved in financial institutions' AML efforts, and other official AML guidelines. The findings of this study acknowledge the suboptimal regulatory pressure and reveal instances of data deficiencies. However, the social context emerged as the most influential factor, highlighting the gap between AML efforts and ML activities.

Författare: Robin Castor och André Rosenqvist  Handledare: Elias Bengtsson  Examinator: Andreas Jansson  Titel: Anti Money Laundering – Förhindra eller undvika? – En studie om svenska AML-chefers inställning till penningtvättsregelverken.  Sökord: AML, Anti-Money Laundering, Penningtvätt, Bankreglering, Compliance, KYC, Kundkännedom, Riskbedömning, Riskbaserat förhållningssätt, Rapportering, Resursallokering  Bakgrund: Penningtvätt är ett växande problem som skadar samhället. För att hantera detta problem utfärdar EU kontinuerligt nya direktiv för medlemsländerna att implementera. Den aktör som hamnat mest i fokus är banker, där skandaler visat på brister i arbetet mot penningtvätt bland svenska banker. Regelverken ställer hårda krav samtidigt som ett riskbaserat förhållningssätt låter banker tolka och implementera arbetet olika. Genom att studera AML-chefers inställning till regelverken bidrar denna studie med en synvinkel som inte tidigare beaktats i Sverige.  Syfte: Denna studie syftar att öka förståelsen kring attityder mot AML och dess regelverk inom svenska banker, om det skiljer sig mellan olika banker samt vad det kan innebära för alla berörda parter.  Metod: En kvalitativ studie med abduktiv forskningsansats har genomförts. Studien har hämtat empiri genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem olika AML-chefer på den svenska bankmarknaden.  Resultat/Slutsatser: Studiens resultat visar hur AML-chefer i Sverige har en kritisk syn på penningtvätts-regelverken. Regelverken upplevs ställa höga, men rimliga, krav på bankerna. Flera fördelar med det riskbaserade förhållningssättet lyfts upp, där riskbedömning och kundkännedom ger en god överblick av verksamheten i ett bolagsstyrnings-perspektiv. Regelverken låter bankerna stänga ute de kunder som inte vill samarbeta. Tyvärr kan dessa kunder gå vidare till nästa bank och fortsätta sitt misstänksamma beteende. Detta problem grundar sig i banksekretessen som gör det omöjligt för banker att dela information och samarbeta i arbetet mot penningtvätt. Studien visar därmed hur incitamenten bakom efterföljandet av regelverket till stor del bygger på rädslan av att skada bankens eget rykte eller ådra sig stora bötesbelopp. Fokus har skiftat från att faktiskt försöka stoppa penningtvätt, till att endast undvika att själv bli utsatt för penningtvätt. / Authors: Robin Castor and André Rosenqvist  Supervisor: Elias Bengtsson  Examiner: Andreas Jansson  Title: Anti Money Laundering - Prevent or Avoid? A study of attitudes towards money laundering regulations among Swedish AML-managers.  Keywords: AML, Anti-money laundering, Money laundering, Banking regulation, Compliance, KYC, Know your customer, Risk assessment, Risk-based approach, Legal reporting, Resource allocation  Background: Money laundering is a growing problem that harms society. To address this issue, the EU is continuously issuing new directives for member states to implement. The banking sector has come to be the most affected industry, where scandals have shown deficiency in the work against money laundering among Swedish banks. These regulations set strict requirements at the same time as the risk- based approach allows banks to interpret and implement the regulations in various degrees. By studying how Swedish AML-managers experience these regulations, this study contributes with a point of view that has not been considered in Sweden previously.  Purpose: This study aims to increase the understanding of attitudes and experience towards AML and its regulations within Swedish banks, if it differs between banks and what it could signify for involved parties.  Method: A qualitative study with an abductive research approach has been conducted. The study has gained empirical data through semi-structured interviews with five different AML managers in the Swedish banking market.  Results/Conclusions: The results of the study show how AML managers in Sweden have a critical view of the money laundering regulations. The regulations are perceived to put high, but appropriate, requirements in the banks. Various advantages of the risk-based approach are highlighted, where risk assessment and customer awareness (KYC) provide a good overview of the business from a corporate governance perspective. The regulations allow banks to end their business relationship with customers who do not want to cooperate. Unfortunately, these customers are able continue their suspicious behavior throughout different banks. This problem is based on the bank secrecy, which makes it impossible for banks to share information and cooperate in the work against money laundering. The study shows how the incentives behind compliance with the regulations are largely based on the fear of damaging reputation or receiving heavy fines. The focus has shifted from actually trying to stop money laundering, to only avoiding being subjected to money laundering themselves.

The opening of a bank account serves as the genesis of a bank customer relationship. It is imperative that the establishment of a bank customer relationship be regulated by law. Both the common law and statutory law regulate the admission of new clients to the realm of banking. It is a minimum requirement, in terms of both statutory and common law, that the identity of a prospective client who wishes to open a bank account must both be established and verified. This, the need to know one’s customer, is not only good law but common sense and an effective measure to prevent criminals from accessing the banking system. Parties who work together must know each other. The need to establish and verify the identity of a potential customer is commonly referred to as the Know Your Customer standards, alternatively the Customer Due Diligence framework. The Know Your Customer standards are neither unique to South Africa nor have their origins in South Africa. The Know Your Customer standards are international standards which the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have been advocating for quite some time. A confluence of the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision greatly influenced the birth of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act in South Africa. The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 prescribes the steps that a bank has to take in order to establish and verify the identity of a potential client. It will be shown in this dissertation that the identification and verification regime established by the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 0f 2001 and the common law are not fool proof. This dissertation makes recommendations on how the current loopholes that exist in the law can be addressed. / Mercantile Law / LLM

The opening of a bank account serves as the genesis of a bank customer relationship. It is imperative that the establishment of a bank customer relationship be regulated by law. Both the common law and statutory law regulate the admission of new clients to the realm of banking. It is a minimum requirement, in terms of both statutory and common law, that the identity of a prospective client who wishes to open a bank account must both be established and verified. This, the need to know one’s customer, is not only good law but common sense and an effective measure to prevent criminals from accessing the banking system. Parties who work together must know each other. The need to establish and verify the identity of a potential customer is commonly referred to as the Know Your Customer standards, alternatively the Customer Due Diligence framework. The Know Your Customer standards are neither unique to South Africa nor have their origins in South Africa. The Know Your Customer standards are international standards which the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have been advocating for quite some time. A confluence of the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision greatly influenced the birth of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act in South Africa. The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 prescribes the steps that a bank has to take in order to establish and verify the identity of a potential client. It will be shown in this dissertation that the identification and verification regime established by the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 0f 2001 and the common law are not fool proof. This dissertation makes recommendations on how the current loopholes that exist in the law can be addressed. / Mercantile Law / LLM