Smarter weapons needed to fight savvy financial criminals

MONEY laundering has existed for as long as we have had money. Today, it is estimated that money laundering around the world reaches between US$1-2 trillion, around 2-5 per cent of global GDP. While many are not directly exposed to the effects of money laundering, the impact in social and economic terms is staggering.

On the social spectrum, successful money laundering leads to increased criminal activity, fuelling terror and drug-related crime. On the economic front, illicit financial flows result in additional costs to businesses such as banks for monitoring and prevention purposes, losses in tax revenue for governments, and artificially inflating financial and property sectors.

Make no mistake - governments around the world are taking tough affirmative actions to combat this threat. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, for example, has accelerated efforts to tackle this issue, with initiatives such as the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Industry Partnership (ACIP), and the launch of platforms such as MyInfo, which enables more efficient "Know Your Customer" (KYC) for banks an…