Banks worldwide have been struggling in the battle against financial crime. Recent high-profile examples demonstrate that the rate of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance enforcement is continuing to rise. At the same time, the cost of compliance failure is escalating with fines and provisions increasing by at least 300% during the second half of 2012 compared to the first. If the related impact to banks’ bottom line is not damaging enough, the loss of trust among customers and regulators makes the combined effect potentially life-threatening.
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by Kieran Beer

The Panama Papers are justifiably grabbing headlines based on the number of “A-list” politicians and celebrities, as well as the handful of notorious criminals, that they name. And their sheer volume—11.5 million documents—represents an unparalleled look at the machinations involved in the use and abuse of shell companies, in this case those created by Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. But it’s important to step back and have a little perspective: the use of shell companies for tax evasion, the proceeds of corruption and other crimes detailed in the papers are outrageous, but sadly nothing new.
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by Andy Scherpenberg

More and more financial institutions are attempting to tackle the issue of fraud, which is taking on new forms and ever larger proportions at a rapid pace. Phishing has been replaced by aggressive ‘vishing’ (voice phishing), which has hoaxed corporates such as Michelin into transferring millions to ill-intentioned parties. The modus operandi has shifted from cyber thugs attempting site takeover to online fraudsters using unsuspecting mule accounts or organized collusions with people who hand over their accounts to be used as transfer accounts while levying a fee for the service.
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By Andy Scherpenberg

Still too few organisations realize just how much recent evolutions in the digital world have changed the spectrum, efficacy, depth and invisibility of fraud. The far-reaching automation and sophistication of the systems of cybercriminals allow them to do a huge amount of damage with a very small team and very little effort. But with terrifying results, if you realize that fraud in 2014 is estimated to cost roughly around 3 trillion euros (yes, that’s a 3 with 12 zeros after it). Continue reading…

by Andy Scherpenberg

VAT carousels, intentional road collisions to defraud the insurance companies, ‘man in the browser’ technology that intercepts your financial transactions and modifies both amount and account number while you are still seeing the usual transaction screens: fraud has permeated every sector and is taking new forms and shapes. Fraudsters are becoming smarter by the day and they have access to more and more resources. In a previous blog post you could already get a sense if the impressive weaponry that the fraudsters have at their disposal. Continue reading…

by Andy Scherpenberg

VAT carousels, intentional road collisions to defraud the insurance companies, ‘man in the browser’ technology that intercepts your financial transactions and modifies both amount and account number while you are still seeing the usual transaction screens: fraud has permeated every sector and is taking new forms and shapes. Fraudsters are becoming smarter by the day and they have access to more and more resources. An overview.

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by Jos Feyaert

The battle against Tax erosion and the black economy can be fought by repression and heavy administrative control mechanisms and technologies as the white registers in restaurants and pubs. In Belgian we know what efforts have to be brought before it can be implemented. But why we don’t fight (at least partially) against it by using modern digital gamification technics, based on encouraging users (the crowd of clients) for asking for getting official invoices and bills from their suppliers. To be sure that the documents are not only issued, but also be registered and declared to the tax-authorities, one could organize a national lottery based upon the registered invoices.

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It is a well-worn phrase “we need to do more with less”! Or in other words, can we ensure that more than one task we have to do in our day jobs can be incorporated in a single effort to ‘gain efficiencies’ or, in real speak, ultimately save money ? So I thought I would look at a typical AML and typical Trade Credit policy and see just how different or similar they were. Now, I do not profess to be a compliance officer nor have I had the stress of being a CFO so I will accept that the devil is always in the detail. However, here are just a few areas I thought seemed to have a very real sense of similarity. Here are just five examples.

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by Jérôme Bryssinck

The agency responsible for combating carousel fraud in Belgium is the Special Tax Inspectorate (ISI), a division of Belgium’s Federal Public Service Finance. Yannic Hulot, ISI Director, recently explained how carousel fraud has been nearly eradicated in Belgium – and how a similar system could be implemented across Europe to get rid of VAT carousel fraud in the broader region.

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