Juanita Bencini

The KPMG Malta AML Roundtable has matured into a natural forum for sharing information by MLROs and compliance officers of regulated entities on anti-money laundering, developing common approaches to issues and promoting desirable policies as well as standards, while keeping abreast of a rapidly-evolving environment.

Juanita Bencini, partner at KPMG responsible for organising the Roundtable, said: “Summer 2014 will see us inaugurate the tenth series of the AML Roundtable. We could never have come this far without the support of those who actively attend and contribute during the sessions, which are intended to foster interaction between subject people and the regulators. This is an exciting moment for the firm and establishes us as leaders in the market.”

Topics discussed during the Roundtable range from recognising what constitutes a suspicious activity to fraud and fraud mitigation. The Roundtable also looks at emerging issues such as the upcoming fourth EU AML Directive and the Malta money laundering National Risk Assessment, which will be published later this year.

This is an exciting moment for the firm

Internationally, KPMG was named the Global AML Firm of the Year for 2014 by Finance Monthly, an international publication on the corporate world from a financial viewpoint, awarding firms and individuals that have outperformed the market and their peers in the key areas of finance.

Criteria used in judging included innovation in client care; recognised expertise; involvement in significant deals, cases or notable work; volume of work compared to industry peers; and size and value of involvement within transactions, deals and cases.

“This is a great achievement and a reflection of the depth and breadth of our Global AML practice,” said Brian Dilley, Global Head of the Anti-Money Laundering Practice. “I am convinced that we have the most globally coordinated AML practice, which is able to service our clients wherever they need help.”

In April, KPMG was named AML Advisory of the Year by ACQ (Acquisition Finance) magazine’s Global Awards 2014, and this year has also seen the launch of the KPMG Global AML Survey. The survey provides an in-depth analysis of the AML landscape and a view into emerging areas of risk, such as trade finance and tax evasion, as well as looking at AML trends within the insurance and asset management sectors.

The survey was distributed to AML and compliance professionals in the top 1,000 global banks, and garnered 317 respondents in over 40 countries, which included Malta. The aim of this year’s survey is to identify emerging trends, opportunities and threats; capture industry perceptions on regulation, cost and effectiveness; and benchmark AML efforts in the financial services industry.

Some of the key findings highlighted in this year’s report include emphasis on the fact that AML issues are moving back up the agenda for senior management, that the costs of compliance continue to rise, that Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) remain an area of focus, gaining increased attention from senior management.

Other topics cover Know Your Customer and sanctions compliance, which remain a challenge. Transaction monitoring systems are found to represent the greatest area of AML spending.

Further details on the KPMG, Malta AML Roundtable and access to the Global AML survey can be found at http://goo.gl/ps2PYj .