The Financial Impact of Terrorism. (Special Advertising Feature).The latest round of terrorist events has raised the level of scrutiny in the worldwide financial industry by relating these types of acts to the mechanisms used to fund them. The attacks were unwittingly supported by a somewhat loosely overseen international financial system. The opening of bank accounts, the use of currency transfer establishments, automated teller machines automated teller machine (ATM), device used by bank customers to process account transactions. Typically, a user inserts into the ATM a special plastic card that is encoded with information on a magnetic strip. , credit cards and other common financial transactions facilitated the ease in which terrorist monies could be hidden and laundered. Financial institutions are responding to these issues by focusing on the strengthening of money laundering The process of taking the proceeds of criminal activity and making them appear legal. Laundering allows criminals to transform illegally obtained gain into seemingly legitimate funds. laws, increasing the enforcement of compliance standards, and higher spending in security, crisis management, business continuity and executive protection programs. In previous decades, when money laundering was associated mostly with illicit drug illicit drug Street drug, see there monies, there was a disconnection dis·con·nect v. dis·con·nect·ed, dis·con·nect·ing, dis·con·nects v.tr. 1. To sever or interrupt the connection of or between: disconnected the hose. 2. between the act and its shortterm effect on society. Now, whether derived from terrorism, drug trafficking, corruption, fraud or any other illegal activities, money laundering will be viewed more seriously as an act with a direct, immediate impact on society. In Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. , safeguards for the prevention, detection and investigation of money laundering activities are at various stages, and several countries do not have basic money laundering controls. On numerous occasions over the past several years, financial crimes committed in Latin America have not been prosecuted, due in part to a lack of basic legislative and enforcement structure. Many Latin Lat·in n. 1. a. The Indo-European language of the ancient Latins and Romans and the most important cultural language of western Europe until the end of the 17th century. b. American governments and corporations will now review existing laws and address vulnerabilities and risks. Law enforcement personnel will have a more active role in monitoring financial activities. Increases in intelligence-gathering activities will likely result in less privacy for clients and more accountability for financial institutions. Organizations, especially now, need to be vigilant regarding money laundering, compliance and security. Latin American companies are escalating the review of their security plans -- shifting their priorities to focus on financial and physical security. The first step is to conduct security assessments, as well as a review of policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental to assess risks and vulnerabilities. Governments, banks and the private sector should proactively help guard against any future widespread funding of terrorism by applying worldwide best practices. Billy F. Marlin, CFE CFE Conventional Forces in Europe (treaty) CFE Cash Flow to Equity (finance/accounting) CFE Comisión Federal de Electricidad (México) CFE Certified Fraud Examiner , is managing director, Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion