Determining the approaches on the Prevention of Money Laundering by financial institutions and investment firms

Abstract

'Money is the fruit of evil as often as the root' - Henry Fielding This dissertation seeks to address the practical aspects of anti-money laundering regime. First, literature about these practical aspects was reviewed. This was done in order to shed light on the most important aspects which will be examined in this dissertation. For the purpose of this dissertation a sample made up of five local financial institutions, three local investment firms and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit were chosen. The findings from this study display that there exists both similarities and difference between financial institutions and investment firms. The structure of anti-money laundering systems in financial institutions varies from that of the investment firms. Systems in place are in proportion to the risk that the individual firm is exposed to and to the volume of transactions of each firm. In conclusion, this dissertation finds that the financial institutions and investment firms address the problem of money laundering in their own way and in their own interpretation of what they consider to be best for their firm. Investment firms are ensuring to protect themselves from the money laundering problem however more attention is needed for them to be effective in detecting possible money laundering transactions.