Business Daily Media

Men's Weekly

.

Customer transparency and ethical onboarding is a priority for Australian finance industry


Research conducted by First AML reveals attitudes Australian banking and finance professionals have towards anti-money laundering and ethical customer onboarding 

Sydney, Australia. 5 September 2022: In new research from anti-money laundering (AML) compliance technology company First AML, 100% of individuals working in the banking and finance industry said AML has risen up the company agenda due to their company’s increased focus on customer transparency and ethical customer onboarding. 

The company’s data found that regulation and compliance is ranked as the highest business priority (2.69 where 1 is the highest), followed by improving the bottom line or protecting margin (3.83).

Other business priorities included avoiding fines (4.04), protecting reputation (4.07), growth and long term business sustainability (4.17), maximising returns for investors (4.47), and ESG and doing the right thing (4.73).

While the majority of respondents (60%) are confident in their AML procedures, and 55% say they have not identified an instance of suspected money laundering in the past three years, 40% say they have, and 22% say more than once. 

A third of respondents (33%) said that the rise in unethical business practices is the primary cause of their concern with AML compliance. This was closely followed by abhorrent crimes (27%), growth in volume and complexity of online transactions (22%) and a desire to avoid being fined (18%).

Despite the unpredictable economic environment, 69% of banking and finance professionals said they were not considering cutting their compliance budget. 

Reporting on the weakest part of their AML process, 34% cited document collection for individuals and companies (such as passports and share registers). Others included training staff on the latest requirements (24%), ongoing risk assessments and transaction monitoring (22%), and onboarding clients with complex company structures (19%). 

The majority of respondents (58%) said in their day to day life, keeping up with regulations is their biggest challenge of working in the financial services sector. This was followed by data privacy (52%), data breaches (48%), unpredictable cash flows (44%), and surpassing competition (36%). 

Andrew Jackson, First AML Country Manager said, “Australia has been recognised as an easy money laundering target and with the increasing integration of Web 3.0 applications such as  blockchain and other interoperable protocols and components, there is serious... cause for concern about anti-money laundering compliance in the financial services sector.”

“Professionals in this sector need quick, easy and accurate ways to onboard customers transparently and complete financial transactions with assurance that they are compliant.”

“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.”

For more information, visit firstaml.com

Beyond borders: Building a scalable strategy for international hiring

For many Australian businesses, growth increasingly depends on thinking beyond local borders.  As wage pressures rise, and specialised talent pool...

The Next Generation of Maritime Sustainable Solutions

As organizations globally seek innovative ways to improve sustainability and their impact on Earth, the American Waterways Operators (AWO), a lead...

Demand for Home Batteries surges as Federal Rebate Kicks In

A leading provider of energy solutions VoltX Energy has seen a 400% increase in demand for home batteries in the past three weeks as people put d...

Why Sport Remains the Safest Bet in an Uncertain World

When Rome was in crisis, its leaders did not retreat to the Senate. They went to the circus. To the chariot races. To the gladiators. Sport was no...

THE FINE LINE WITHIN HILARIOUS SIGNAGE DESIGN FAILS

It seems like design failures still occur in today’s modern branding era, despite rigorous rounds of approvals behind the scenes. One signage show...

Deputy Announces Exclusive Global Partnership with Predelo to Bring AI to Shift-Based Businesses

Deputy, the global people platform for shift-based businesses, has announced an exclusive partnership with Predelo, an AI Decision Agent-as-a-Serv...

Sell by LayBy