Touch points

Account-opening is often perceived as a paper-heavy procedure and obstructive to business but it is also acknowledged to be a vital, possibly the most important point of defence against money launderers. Alan Osborn looks at the training and supervision of staff who screen new customers and accounts in both in-house and outsourced functions.

One of the most striking developments in the fight against money laundering over the past 10 years has been the growing sophistication and alertness of bank clerks and other comparatively low level financial services company staff in the detection of suspicious activity and the vetting of new clients. Andrew Clark, partner in charge of anti-money laundering (AML) services at leading accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), puts it this way: “If you went back to the mid-90s you’d find that MLROs or people working in that area would have possibly no experience in terms of AML or financial crime or possibly not even in terms of regulation. There’s been a trend to professionalise what’s being done and I think this is an important development.”