Criminals 'favour easy channels' to launder money

Kuala Lumpur

CRIMINAL organisations when conducting cross-border transactions look at basic systems including money services businesses (MSBs) that are less stringent about "know your customer (KYC)" requirements, financial-crime specialists said, noting that some of these outfits are set up solely to launder funds.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions market planning manager Christopher Foye said MSBs play a useful role in society, for instance by helping migrant workers remit money back to poorer communities. But he observed there are also unlicensed MSBs - not just in Malaysia but other countries too - that bring a bad name to the sector.