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90% of lawyers concerned with money laundering
More Australian lawyers are concerned about money laundering than ever; new research has revealed.
Lauren Croft
A new report conducted by anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) platform First AML has shown that 90 per cent of lawyers and accountants are more concerned about money laundering since discussions around Tranche 2 — the name of the part of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 that applies to legal professionals, accountants, real estate agents and trust and company service providers.
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The research, which aims to uncover the attitudes of Australian lawyers and accountants toward current compliance and AML procedures, found that 89 per cent of respondents said AML has moved up the company agenda in the past year.
According to the research, the two main reasons for this are that 79 per cent of Australian companies are increasing their focus on customer transparency and ethical customer onboarding, with 70 per cent preparing for expected Tranche 2 implementation. Other reasons include reducing siloed documentation (64 per cent), increased risk of fines (61 per cent) and external risks (47 per cent).
In addition, a whopping 95 per cent of respondents admitted that a money laundering incident would impact their company’s ability to attract new clients and retain existing ones and 89 per cent said they are proactively putting more rigid AML policies in place.
Compliance steps being put in place include technology, outsourcing services such as a policy consultant or external training and hiring AML experts.
However, despite these steps being taken, the research found that 67 per cent of Australian lawyers and accountants have identified one or more instances of suspected money laundering in the past three years, with 49 per cent identifying more than one.
Over half of respondents said they believe the threat of money laundering will continue to get worse over the next three years, with the biggest causes of concern being the growth of unethical business practices (39 per cent), AML/CTF Tranche 2 (19 per cent) and the growth in online transactions (17 per cent).
Commenting on the findings, First AML country manager Andrew Jackson said that “Australia has been recognised as an easy money laundering target”.
“Accountants and lawyers need quick, easy and accurate ways to onboard customers and complete financial transactions with assurance that they are compliant,” he said.
“However, this is an industry-wide issue that impacts not just businesses but also the economy and everyday Australians. That’s where First AML’s technology comes in, especially as countries globally call for tighter compliance in business.”
