4 ms·
I was in the thickets of “big bank” AML for a few years. The experience left me pessimistic. Tragically, the process is treated entirely as a box ticking exerc
by fumblebee 6y ago
I was in the thickets of “big bank” AML for a few years. The experience left me pessimistic.
Tragically, the process is treated entirely as a box ticking exercise. Incumbent AML systems are old and ineffective, and scores of investigators submit thousands of SARs (suspicious activity reports) to central policing authorities that 99.9% of the time are ignored until they help an ongoing case.
The process is neglected partly because it doesn’t generate money, it prevents fines, which are tricky to predict and a less obvious priority for upper management.
Launderers of any significant amount of money are savvy to the pitfalls of current systems. Best in class solutions can capture some money laundering schemes via watchlist screening and “suspicious looking”transactional patterns - but the limit is the data the company owns. The main issue is that money is spread across multiple institutions in multiple jurisdictions.
As systems to tackle money laundering become more effective, so too do the launderers.
- fredgrott 6y agoWe have a real example in the United States called Trump, Get someone to buy a piece of real estate at allow price who does it anonymously and set it up also to support the valuation of the same piece of real estate at a new inflated price. Tada! You have just laundered some Russian money just by refusing to ask money source questions. And they real trick is make sure every single piece of real estate is a separate pass-through-LLC as than the IRS is hampered by not having enough audit staff to even examine it. You think I am joking....not really ask an IRS return examiner. World-wide one of the easiest ways to launder money still remains the real estate buying and selling.
- Veelox 6y agoTrump's out of office, can we please stop spreading unfounded anti-Trump propaganda now?
- electrondood 6y agoFacts aren't unfounded, nor propaganda. Or are you saying an individual shouldn't be responsible for their actions? He sold a $40m for $100m to a Russian oligarch, who promptly demolished it. The overpaying is the point. Real estate is one of the primary means of laundering money out of a country that otherwise restricts it. See: FINCEN [0] [0] https://www.fincen.gov/suspected-money-laundering-and-fraud-residential-real-estate-industry https://www.fincen.gov/suspected-money-laundering-and-fraud-...
- imagine99 6y agoPlease, how do you buy a piece of real estate anonymously? Come on, that's not a thing. Certainly not anonymous in respect to the government. A pass-through-LLC means everything is directly in your name and if you don't report it on your personal tax return you go direct to jail without collecting $200. If the LLC has its own bank account, this will also be associated with your name. And once you're on their radar, I bet they can find enough auditors to check your other LLCs as well. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I really don't see how you think this can work in reality. I will not get into the Trump thing other than saying it's not like they're not already investigating him either (and possibly have been for years).
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]