The Hindu Business Line : Banks must improve staff skills to curb money laundering: KPMG

New Delhi, Aug. 16 Banks in India and other Asia-Pacific countries must improve skills of their staff to curb money laundering activities, as training programmes are unsophisticated and the laws outdated, consultancy firm KPMG has said in a report.

“Respondents across the Asia-Pacific region have said that training in many parts are relatively unsophisticated, reflecting outdated legislation and lack of regulatory pressures,” the global study done by KPMG Forensic said.

The study, conducted among 224 banks from 55 countries, found a marked shift in the attitude of senior management in India as well as Asia-Pacific region with increasing interest and involvement of top officials in anti-money laundering (AML) activities.

Seventeen per cent of the respondents in the region said they provide training in AML activities to less than 40 per cent of their employees.

KPMG said that although it was common for banks in India to provide training that met minimum regulatory requirements, the quality of training taking place in the region might need to improve to bring it up to international standards.

With international banks bolstering their presence in emerging market economies, and with a low interest rate environment driving growth in alternative assets including hedge funds and private equity, the need for more stringent AML processes has only grown,” KPMG India Head (forensic services), Mr Deepankar Sanwalka, said.

He added that banks would need to work extremely hard to maintain advantage in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The study also mentions that there was a desire in India to try to meet the various requirements of international regulators.

Globally, bank spending on AML systems and processes has risen by an average of 58 per cent over the last three years.

On the contrary, banks in the Asia-Pacific region considered AML to be just another compliance issue which brings costs but no tangible benefit to financial institutions.

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