News & Blog

The Future of Financial Crime — Insights From Christopher Liew

Financial Crime
August 6, 2021

This article is part of Kyckr’s new Future of Financial Crime Series, which will feature interviews with leading industry professionals and thought leaders to learn more about the evolution of financial crime and the trends shaping the future.

The following is an interview we recently had with Christopher Liew, CFA, Founder of Wealth Awesome.

The Future of Financial Crime — Insights From Christopher Liew

What is the state of financial crime today? 

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an even higher volume of cashless and digital payments. As many businesses transitioned to online systems as a means of survival, cybercriminals also kept up with the times and improved their fraudulent schemes such as making phishing emails look more convincing, impersonating bank telemarketers to collect financial information over the phone, bogus sellers and buyers, hacking online wallets, loan fraud, identity theft, and so much more. Because of this new age of digitalisation, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 or AMLA 2020 became law and will force many changes to the compliance programs of financial institutions. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will be required to upgrade and modernise its software systems while regulators are also required to update their risk assessment programs and avail interoperable software systems or make use of multiple software apps to further prevent financial crimes to pass through and proliferate.

How has financial crime evolved over the past 5 years? 

Financial crimes have always been rampant, even during the first few years of America achieving independence. Crimes and scams such as money laundering, embezzlement, investment fraud, insurance fraud, extortion, identity theft, illicit gambling, organised crime activities, terrorism financing, bribery, corruption, insider trading, and the like. Certain AML policies and procedures were already in place back then with FinCEN regularly updating and requiring financial institutions to be in strict compliance. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, FinCEN who used to delegate its authority to perform in-person examinations of such cases is now working virtually. This transition may pose certain risks for financial institutions as it was more feasible to maintain and monitor compliance programs when examinations, exchange of documents, and communication were done personally.

What's the future of financial crime?

As digitalisation proved its convenience to the globe in terms of cashless payments and transactions, financial criminals utilising these digital channels will by then evolve to become even more aggressive and relentless. Add in the modern-age investments such as cryptocurrency and you’re sure to hear reports of cybercriminals making use of more sophisticated ways to hack online wallets, commit cryptocurrency fraud, and identity theft. Unless financial institutions don’t take advantage of cloud-based software or any modernisation tools to upgrade their AML procedures, employ tighter restrictions, create more advanced preventive measures, and create a culture of AML compliance among its employees, fighting financial crimes will only be more difficult in the future.

Financial Crime
August 6, 2021

This article is part of Kyckr’s new Future of Financial Crime Series, which will feature interviews with leading industry professionals and thought leaders to learn more about the evolution of financial crime and the trends shaping the future.

The following is an interview we recently had with Christopher Liew, CFA, Founder of Wealth Awesome.

The Future of Financial Crime — Insights From Christopher Liew

What is the state of financial crime today? 

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an even higher volume of cashless and digital payments. As many businesses transitioned to online systems as a means of survival, cybercriminals also kept up with the times and improved their fraudulent schemes such as making phishing emails look more convincing, impersonating bank telemarketers to collect financial information over the phone, bogus sellers and buyers, hacking online wallets, loan fraud, identity theft, and so much more. Because of this new age of digitalisation, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 or AMLA 2020 became law and will force many changes to the compliance programs of financial institutions. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will be required to upgrade and modernise its software systems while regulators are also required to update their risk assessment programs and avail interoperable software systems or make use of multiple software apps to further prevent financial crimes to pass through and proliferate.

How has financial crime evolved over the past 5 years? 

Financial crimes have always been rampant, even during the first few years of America achieving independence. Crimes and scams such as money laundering, embezzlement, investment fraud, insurance fraud, extortion, identity theft, illicit gambling, organised crime activities, terrorism financing, bribery, corruption, insider trading, and the like. Certain AML policies and procedures were already in place back then with FinCEN regularly updating and requiring financial institutions to be in strict compliance. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, FinCEN who used to delegate its authority to perform in-person examinations of such cases is now working virtually. This transition may pose certain risks for financial institutions as it was more feasible to maintain and monitor compliance programs when examinations, exchange of documents, and communication were done personally.

What's the future of financial crime?

As digitalisation proved its convenience to the globe in terms of cashless payments and transactions, financial criminals utilising these digital channels will by then evolve to become even more aggressive and relentless. Add in the modern-age investments such as cryptocurrency and you’re sure to hear reports of cybercriminals making use of more sophisticated ways to hack online wallets, commit cryptocurrency fraud, and identity theft. Unless financial institutions don’t take advantage of cloud-based software or any modernisation tools to upgrade their AML procedures, employ tighter restrictions, create more advanced preventive measures, and create a culture of AML compliance among its employees, fighting financial crimes will only be more difficult in the future.

Build your Customer Due Diligence and KYC processes on a robust foundation with Kyckr.

Make data work smarter, not harder.

Request a Demo
Newsletter Sign Up
Book a Demo
Talk to us
LinkedIninfo@kyckr.com
Close
24Q1_ALL_WEB_27.09_UBOVerify_SIGNUP_FORM
24Q1_ALL_WEB_27.07_UBOMaze_ReplayRequest_FORM
24Q1_GatedCON_GuideToUBOVerification_RequestWP_FORM
24Q1_ALL_WEB_27.07_UBOMaze_Signup_FORM
23Q4_ALL_WEB_22.06_Alloy_KYC_ReplayRequest_Form
23Q4_ALL_WEB_22.06_Alloy_KYC
23Q4_ALL_WEB_DigitalTransformation_WebinarReplay_Request
23Q4_ALL_CONF_06.06_Money2020_EU_MeetingForm
23Q4_ALL_WEB_18.05_AML_Digital_Transformation
23Q4_GatedCON_AMLFines2022_RoundupReport_FORM
23Q3_ALL_WEB_20.04_AMLSolutions_WebinarReplay
23Q3_ALL_WEB_20.04_AMLSolutions_Signup_FORM
23Q3_ALL_CONF_21.03_AML_ABC_Forum
23Q3_ALL_WEB_23.02_Signup_FORM
23Q2_ALL_WEB_14.12_KYC_VS_KYB_Webinar_Replay_FORM
23Q2_ALL_CONF_07.12_AFCSummit_BookAMeeting
23Q2_ALL_WEB_14.12_KYC_VS_KYB_SIGNUP_FORM
Webinar: Spotlight on KYC vs KYB - Why The Difference Is Increasingly Important For Verification
23Q2_ALL_WEB_17.11_Corporate_KYC_Landscape_ReplayRequest
23Q2_ALL_WEB_27.10_Corporate_KYC_Landscape_FINAL_FORM
Whitepaper: AML Bank Fines 2022 Mid-Year Report
Research Paper: The State of Customer Onboarding in Corporate Banking in Australia 2022
Registry Portal Pro
Registry Portal Basic
Registry Portal Essentials
Request API Key
Newsletter Signup
Whitepaper: AML Fines Report 2021
Ebook: The Future Of Financial Crime
Research Paper: Voice of the KYC Compliance Professional
Whitepaper: Corporate Onboarding: will it become a competitive differentiator for banks in a real-time world?
Research Paper: The State of Customer Onboarding in Corporate Banking
Whitepaper: Overcoming the Limitations of Company Registries to Enhance KYC Efficiency
Whitepaper: AML Bank Fines 2020 Report
Whitepaper: Impact of the European Union’s 5th AML Directive
Leverage cutting edge technology to automate customer onboarding
Moving from Periodic to Perpetual KYC
Unleash the power of primary source data & automate customer onboarding
Primary source data, the true foundation of regulatory compliance for Legal Firms
Primary-source data, the backbone of streamlined, “zero-touch” onboarding for Payment Providers
Spotlight on company registries in the wake of the FinCen Papers
Spotlight on US Company Registries
Spotlight on Ultimate Beneficial Ownership
Spotlight on APAC Company Registries
Spotlight on Company Registries in Offshore Jurisdictions
How can automation enhance your KYC and Onboarding Process?
Perpetual KYC – a myth or a must?
Spotlight on 2021 AML Fines
How to Future-Proof your AML/KYC processes with the help of RegTechs?
Webinar Replay: How to overcome the challenges associated with UBOs?
Spotlight On Entry Verification
Registry Portal Enterprise
AMLFines_ReplayRequest_FORM
Replay
Webinar Replay
Book A Demo