Lately, money laundering activities have received a lot of attention in the auditing and accounting field due to pressures from the EU. Legislative changes have caused an urgency in preventative measures against money laundering and reporting of suspicious activity. Accordingly, the selected subject is current and important to acknowledge in the work of auditors and accountants. Therefore, this study aims to examine the professional's adaptive ability in their practices to remain compliant with the developing Anti-Money Laundering regulations within the European Union. With a focus on professional skepticism the study will contribute to regulatory compliance research by analyzing documents and asking practitioners’ perspectives on their ability to judge when skeptical action is situationally appropriate.  Regulatory compliance and the inter-play of professionals is the core issue which the researchers mean to address. The adapted approach is to conceptualize a general theory by interviewing individuals with expertise in the field and gaining their perspectives on the matter. An important part of this process is to gather relevant information so that it can be used as a tool to understand the perspectives as best as possible. Beyond reviewing literature this also involves document analysis. The document analysis examines legal documents and reports to gain a rudimentary understanding of how investigated professionals in Sweden are judged in different situations.  The study's findings suggest that skeptical attitudes typically have a preventative function amongst both auditors and accountants to avoid high-risk clients. Therefore, minimizing the risk of facing a dilemma of whether to file a suspicious activity report against a client. Moreover, in the make-up of Professional Skepticism, attitude seemingly has increased weight contra the individual's mindset as the transition to a stronger presence of liquid transactions and more efficient analysis methods illegitimize the reasoning behind some situational accounting techniques. Moreover, the observed reality of the Swedish accounting and auditing professional is an increase in the awareness of the implemented laws. Adaptability and use of education, experiences, work programs and tools play a key role in the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall work within the frames of the Swedish legal systems and to detect and decrease illegal activities. To that extent, professionals also have differing outsets depending on the firms' resources and the individuals' roles in the firm.  The study contributes to knowledge of the effect of the progressive changes to Anti-Money Laundering regulations on audit and accounting practitioners, before the Money Laundering Act (2014:307) until today, as the intention is for professionals to better understand the components relevant to assertive decision-making with respect to money laundering regulation.

No description available.

The subject of my thesis is the identification and subsequent comparison of legal instruments which are intended to fight against legalization of proceeds of crime, which is also referred to as money laundering, in the Czech Republic and in the Federal Republic of Germany. The first chapter is to familiarize the reader with the issue of money laundering, therefore it provides the definition of the phenomenon of money laundering and also describes the typical phases of this process. The second chapter is devoted to international institutions that deal with money laundering on the supranational level and whose activities are then reflected in international standards. The third chapter deals with legislation related to the fight against legalization of proceeds of crime in the Czech Republic. First I focus on the history of the development of the struggle against money laundering in the country and subsequently describe particular laws designed to regulate the rights and obligations relating to the effective fight against this phenomenon. Further I describe particular obligations that fall on subjects, which may be confronted with efforts to launder money within its activities, and characterize individual institutions that are involved in the fight against money laundering. The fourth chapter is...

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.

The dilemma of money laundering is an undeniable problem faced by many institutions all over the world. Due to its prevalence, the need for organisations to deal with the problem has become a global priority, regardless of the size of the financial institutions. Despite the compliance AML efforts undertaken by various institutions, AML compliance appears to be a daunting challenge, the question posed by this research is whether there is a need for independent anti-money laundering (AML) compliance reviews, given the invasive nature of money laundering in financial institutions. Secondly, the research addresses the question of who is well positioned to perform the independent AML compliance reviews. In addressing the second question, the research will discuss why internal audit is an invaluable resource in terms of risk management processes and the reasons why they are an integral part of the AML solution. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Auditing / unrestricted

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.

Implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) goes beyond a technological modification to automate the identification of US clients and report their information to the IRS. FATCA implementation requires foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to learn the new requirements, to modify their organizational structures and their employees’ relationships and responsibilities, and to adjust the technology that helps the employees collect new FATCA-related information and to process that information so that it can be reported to the IRS in the correct format. In spite of that, research on FATCA implementation has focused on studying each constituent separately. However, according to the information systems (IS) body of research and from a systems thinking perspective, the whole (the bank that is complying with FATCA as a system) is more than the sum of its parts (the information, technology, and social structures that it includes). For this reason, this dissertation argues that in order to achieve an effective FATCA implementation and reduce tax evasion activity, FATCA implementation should be studied from an IS perspective. This will assist in appreciating the complexity of FATCA implementation and compliance and will help practitioners to better anticipate future uncertainties. The dissertation uses actor-network theory (ANT), as it is a socio-technical theory, to investigate the implementation of and compliance with FATCA in a Jordanian local bank. Our interpretation revealed a number of problems in the bank’s compliance initiative; among them were the issues of overlooking technology, information, and the bank’s customers as actors with interests of their own. Accordingly, we provide eight propositions that can enhance the effectiveness of FATCA compliance. Tax-evasion has been shown in the literature to be a predicate crime involving money laundering (ML), i.e., a crime that generates proceeds that need to be treated in secretive ways so that they can be falsely legitimized. We argue in this dissertation that the findings of our case study could provide lessons for the anti-money-laundering (AML) domain in relation to its structurally coupled domain of ML. Thus, we presented some lessons that can be tested in the ML/AML domains.

Money laundering is marginalized phenomenon with high social impact which comes from necessary connection of this activity with illegal activities, especially organized crime. Since the goal of almost every illegal activity is to create profit (and since the biggest profit comes from the activities which are highly dangerous for the society, such as drug trafficking) it is vital for the society to fight money laundering effectively. It is in the best interest of the whole society to fight this phenomenon and cut the organized crime out of their resources through effective control of the money laundering. The goal of this thesis is to explain the issue of money laundering in detail, to map the whole process while using mostly comparative and analytic methods and summarize the international and Czech anti- money laundering legislation. I would be glad if the reader had truly concrete idea about the phenomenon of money laundering after reading my thesis. In the first part, I am dealing with the whole concept of money laundering, meaning history and definition of the term itself. I also compare terms money laundering and legalization of proceeds from crime. Then I analyze the true nature of money laundering and financing of terror and the process of money laundering. I also deal with concrete subjects...

Conscious of the limitations of the petroleum-based economy in Bahrain, the Bahraini government aims to improve other industries, such as finance. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to study the current status of banking confidentiality in Bahrain, and to discover the possibilities for improvement in the banking sector in Bahrain, so that the country can succeed in being the financial centre of the Middle East. The main aspects of this study are to explore the meaning of the doctrine of confidentiality; the duration of and the exceptions to the duty of confidentiality, and the delicate balance between protecting banking confidentiality and combating money-laundering. This thesis is based on library research, involving an analysis of a range of documents, publications, cases, articles, online sources and legal materials from the United Kingdom (UK) and Bahraini jurisdictions and legislations, both in Arabic and English. The findings are as follows: surprisingly, compared to English law, the exceptions to the duty of confidentiality under Bahraini law are much more limited. They are clearly stated under the CBBFIA. Although the CBBFIA designates four articles that deal with the duty of confidentiality, it lacks specific and important details related to the application of these articles, such as the scope and duration of the duty of confidentiality. Bahraini courts have failed to apply any article for the protection of banking confidentiality, and the court records lack any cases relating to the protection of banking confidentiality. Also a significant number of money- laundering transactions could be performed through banks. Finally, bank customers in Bahrain have little awareness of their rights in the framework of banker-customer confidentiality.

O sistema internacional testemunha a consolidação de um regime internacional de combate à lavagem de dinheiro. Fundado em premissas hodiernas do Direito Internacional, esse regime responde a uma ordem internacional multifacetada, que se verifica no progressivo protagonismo de atores subnacionais e de organismos não governamentais. A consequente relativização da função dos Estados, como vetores históricos das relações internacionais, enseja um processo de jurificação, por meio de instrumentos de soft law estabelecidos, em sua maioria, pelo GAFI. Analisa-se a formação histórica da lavagem de dinheiro e o respectivo processo de construção de antagonistas legais, tais como os tratados celebrados no âmbito das Nações Unidas e o soft law - paradigma consubstanciado na criação do GAFI. Examinam-se as recomendações do GAFI, na estruturação do regime internacional de combate à lavagem de dinheiro e na construção de projeções regionais do organismo, concentradas na expansão de seu espectro de atuação e de seu alcance. Estudam-se o processo de avaliação dos membros e não membros e o processo sancionador baseado na criação das listas de países não cooperantes, com o objetivo de evidenciar os seus papéis enquanto vetores de compliance. Ao final, trata-se o tema sob a perspectiva da compliance na ordem jurídica nacional, analisando a internalização das recomendações, no ordenamento brasileiro, desde a criminalização da lavagem de dinheiro até a estruturação administrativa dos órgãos de regulação (COAF, Banco Central, Superintendencia de Seguros Privados, entre outros) e da Unidade de Inteligência Financeira, de forma a evidenciar as alterações estruturais realizadas na legislação interna visando adequá-la às exigências internacionais. / The international system has been witnessing the consolidation of an transnational moneylaundering enforcement regime, built upon contemporary International Law premises. Such system tackles a multifaceted world order which one can attest by spotting the progressive protagonism of both subnational actors and non-governmental organizations and the resulting relativization of States functions historically the main vector of the international relations. The aforementioned phenomenon gives room to a jurification process lead by FATF soft law. Accordingly, this works analyzes the historical development of money laundering and the formation of its respective legal antagonists, such as the United Nation System treaties and soft law a paradigm consubstantiated by the launch of FATF. It examines FATF recommendations, the structuring of an international money-laundering enforcement regime and the organisms regional projections, generally focused on the expansion of its operating spectrum and outreach. It studies the members and non-members assessment procedure and their sanctioning process based on the enrollment of noncooperative countries, in order to highlight their role as compliance vectors. Lastly, it glances compliance through the Brazilian legal system, the internalization of FATF recommendations since money launderings criminalization so far as to the administrative arrangement of regulatory bodies (COAF, Central Bank, Private Insurances Superintendence, and so forth) and of the Financial Intelligence Unit, in order to highlight the structural changes made to the domestic legislation so that it adapts itself to international requirements.