Financial Crime is a hot topic in today's society. From
terrorism financing to fraud to anti - money laundering, it is a massive
concern in every jurisdiction across the world.
Terrorist organizations like Al- Qaeda, ISIS, Al -Shabaab
and Boko - Haram have become a scourge all over the world. The close to 300
schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko - Haram group are still unlocated somewhere
in the Sambisa forest in Northern Nigeria, the latest massacre of several people
in a musical concert in Paris and the attack of a large number of people in the
West gate shopping mall in Kenya and several other more recent and deadly
attack carried out by this groups.
There has been a multi- country approach to dealing with
this issue as various counter – terrorist units have been set up to share
intelligence and coordinate military actions, however asfar as preventing the
financing of terrorism is concerned, organizations and businesses all over the
world must serve as the first line of defense by ensuring they thoroughly
identify their customers and verify their identities as these would prevent
suspect individuals from infiltering the system in the first place.
Every organization must maintain a robust KYC & AML
processes as suspect individuals can easily change their names and obtain new
identification papers; suspect corporate entities can often change their
identities even more easily; and in any case accounts can be opened and
manipulated through front men.
The question now is how long would we continue to witness this attacks, as practical solutions are still not as effective as they should be.
For more information on this topic or any other
related subject, you are most welcome to
get in touch with me via email; contact@emgfraudconsulting.co.uk