Banking Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering Efforts: An Inquiry into the Roles, Challenges, and Perceptions of Financial Professionals

• In Event: EUROC 8 Organisational Cultures and Compliance

Abstract

Financial institutions, in particular the banking sector, play a crucial role in facilitating the movement of money domestically and internationally. As a result, financial institutions have been enlisted into the fight against money laundering. They are required to adopt a quasi-policing role in order to detect and prevent the transfer of illicit funds through their organisations. How they must carry out this role is dictated by a comprehensive anti-money laundering (AML) framework made up of a series of policies, regulations, and legislation. Notably, failures to comply with certain requirements carry the risk of regulatory and criminal penalties. Although the importance of compliance is reiterated amongst policymakers on a global scale, how this role manifests within organisations is largely overlooked. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how this role is managed in commercially orientated banking institutions, as well as the challenges of staying compliant with the AML framework. These are preliminary findings based on several interviews with financial professionals working in AML compliance or compliance adjacent roles within banks.

Author

• Korry Robert, University of Manchester