AML enforcement isn't slowed by pandemic, reveals Kroll

The COVID-19 pandemic has not stunted global enforcement action for anti-money laundering (AML) failings, according to Kroll.

The findings come from the company’s annual Global Enforcement Review 2021, which shows that, globally, 45 fines for AML failures were issued in 2020, the same as in 2019. Moreover, the first half of 2021 seems to be following suit, with 17 fines issued between January and July 2021, just under half of 2020’s year-end total.

Despite the consistency in the volume of fines issued, the total value of AML enforcement has rocketed, reaching USD 2.2 billion at the end of 2020, which is five times higher than in 2019 and over two-thirds of the record levels recorded in 2018 (USD 444 million and USD 3.3 bln, respectively). Similarly, the total value of AML fines as of June 2021 is nearly half of the 2020 total, standing at USD 994 mln.

Kroll’s report also highlights the four key AML failings from 2016-2021 that regulators across the world have consistently identified through the fines they imposed:

•  AML management (124 cases)

• Suspicious activity monitoring (98 cases)

• Customer due diligence (94 significant cases)

• Compliance monitoring and oversight (57 cases)

Over the past 18 months, several global regulators have joined the US in imposing significant fines for AML failures. In 2020, Australia imposed the greatest proportion of the global total (41%), followed by Sweden and Hong Kong. The Netherlands is currently leading the way in 2021, accounting for 59% of the total value of global fines to end of June 2021 following a single fine of USD 582 million.