Cash laundering is on the rise, with regulated companies seeing suspicious exercise extra regularly, new analysis has discovered.
500 compliance decision-makers have been surveyed from the realms of property growth, crypto, banking – together with challenger banks – and gaming.
Greater than a 3rd of respondents (36 per cent) reported an increase within the variety of Suspicious Exercise Experiences (SARs) they’ve submitted over the previous six months.
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The Proceeds of Crime Act requires regulated companies to submit an SAR to the Nationwide Crime Company (NCA) in the event that they imagine that somebody is making an attempt to scrub soiled cash earned from the proceeds of crime. The variety of SARs submitted has doubled within the final 5 years and the NCA has estimated that it’ll hit one million for the primary time this 12 months.
The survey – commissioned by anti-money laundering software program supplier SmartSearch – additionally discovered that many companies depend on guide checks to confirm prospects. 40 per cent stated they verified new particular person and enterprise shoppers manually, wrongly believing that taking copies of official paperwork like passports or driving licences supplied reassurance that prospects have been real.
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“These figures are regarding as a result of they present that there isn’t any abatement in legal makes an attempt to clean soiled cash by means of the UK financial system,” stated SmartSearch managing director Martin Cheek.
“Removed from it – suspicious exercise is clearly growing.
“However that concern is compounded by the variety of companies who additionally admit to a continued reliance on guide checks to onboard new prospects. If these sectors are seeing an increase in suspicious exercise, then their buyer verification and anti-money laundering procedures ought to be as sturdy as doable. However our survey reveals that they aren’t.”
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The survey confirmed that top road betting outlets are the more than likely to must cope with soiled cash, with nearly two thirds saying that that they had submitted a better variety of SARs. Challenger banks have been additionally focused, with almost half reporting a rise.
A Monetary Conduct Authority overview final 12 months raised considerations over the adequacy of challenger banks’ defences towards monetary crimes.