In the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, many countries operate mandatory reporting requirements for suspicious activity or transactions (known as SARs or STRs) which are identified by certain institutions in the regulated sector. The value of these reports is extensive, resulting in databases with a rich source of financial intelligence available to law enforcement. This intelligence may lead to the identification of serious offenders; provide an opportunity to stop current or potential criminal activities; uncover contact details and aliases; expose criminal methods; as well as providing intelligence that leads to a great understanding of criminality in countries. However, there is a cost to such compliance and some organisations feel they are already over- and heavily-regulated. This can lead to the overreporting to mitigate against risk, undermining the whole anti-money laundering scheme. Given the changing economic and financial climates and rise in new crime methods, is it time to revisit the reporting of suspicious activities?This webinar will discuss:

The potential benefits of SARs/STRs and what such intelligence could lead to
The practical reality of operating SARs/STRs and whether the cost outweighs these benefits
What changes could be made to these reporting requirements to make them more effective and applicable to current global economic circumstances

Panellists:
Amanda Peters – Government of Antigua and Barbuda
Professor Mike Levi – Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University (UK)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2021/05/12/money-laundering-reporting-how-effective-is-it/

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