Complying with rules difficult without technology: Expert
Despite the fact that the deadline for complying with the anti-money laundering (AML) regulations is well past us, many of the banks in the UAE still do not have the technology platform to address the money laundering menace, according to an AML technology expert.
Talking to The Business Weekly, Hanuman Tripathi, managing director and CEO Infrasoft Technologies Ltd, a firm specialising in AML software, said it will be difficult for the banks to comply with the AML regulations without the help of technology. He said considering the severity of punishment envisaged for financial institutions for the role in money laundering, the present arrangement made by the banks to combat money laundering is insufficient.
"The banks may have complied with their internal systems but are yet to have their AML technologies in place. They may have gone to the extent of having systems in place to identify a client in view of the banks' own needs, and not to comply with the requirements of AML regulations," Tripathi added.
Stating that this is a very serious issue at a time when sophisticated criminals cannot be identified by the traditional ways of crime detection methods used by banks, he said, "As per the money laundering regulations, the identification of a customer has to be in the context of money laundering prevention and hence, the information sought for this has to be different. Moreover, the information sought has to be continuously mapped."
Apart from address and professional details, the list of information ideally includes data on the number of withdrawals, number of deposits, cross currency transactions and so on.
"AML software will track all your transactions as per the stated profile. And if the transactions go beyond your stated profile, you become suspicious. Accessing these details manually is not possible," Tripathi explained.
To verify whether banks have incorporated the required technology is not the Central Bank's look-out. "The Central Bank will only check whether the banks have been able to comply with the regulations," he added.
According to him, the banks' approach to the AML is somewhat the same the world over. Anti-money regulations are followed everywhere only to the extent of blacklist filters and know-your-customer (KYC) norms.
By Amit Chettupuzha
© The Business Weekly 2007
