Anti-money laundering specialists prevent and detect money laundering activities. They require knowledge of laws, train others, and work with law enforcement and government agencies. They must be able to adapt to changing tactics and be alert to bribery and corruption.
An anti-money laundering specialist is a financial industry professional who focuses on the prevention and detection of money laundering activities. Some belong to professional organizations and have credentials to increase their employability. Others may get their training on the job and rely on experience when it comes to applying for a job. Banks use anti-money laundering experts, as do law enforcement agencies and agencies responsible for implementing government policy.
This job requires knowledge of the laws of a given country regarding money laundering. The anti-money laundering specialist is familiar with all the details of the law, including the responsibilities of individual financial institutions. At banks, these people train others, help establish compliance policies, and cooperate with law enforcement when investigations arise. His work includes everything from filling out reports on suspicious client activity to helping branch banks train their staff so they know how to file reports in compliance with the law.
The anti-money laundering specialist is also trained to look for signs of money laundering and take appropriate action. Even though activities do not need to be reported to the government, they can be tracked internally so that the bank can monitor concerned customers, and reports to government agencies can be prepared with a collection of customer information. The anti-money laundering specialist helps define, define and reform bank policy to address changes in the law, the financial industry and the community.
At law enforcement agencies, anti-money laundering specialists review reports filed by banks, flagging those that are of concern for further evaluation. They can also help banks comply with the law and provide assistance and education to help banks learn to identify money laundering and take appropriate action. This work may also include educating untrained officers who want to work on a financial crime task force. In other government agencies, these professionals are involved in creating comprehensive and sensible policies to combat money laundering.
One problem with financial crimes is that people tend to be highly adaptable when it comes to adjusting their habits and behaviors to reduce their risk of getting caught. As the law changes, people change tactics, making it harder to track their activities. Anti-money laundering specialists need to be able to think like their targets in order to accurately and quickly identify financial activities of interest. The anti-money laundering specialist also needs to be alert to issues such as bribery and corruption within a bank or government agency, with people being paid to look the other way when financial crimes occur.
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