AML and business ethics: The Caribbean and Latin/South America

This paper is an overview of anti-money laundering and business ethics in both the Caribbean and Latin and South America. Unfortunately, due to limited resources for areas such as technology and training, regulatory standards (or the lack of them) contributes consistently across these regions to the lack of enforcement when it comes to money laundering and financial crime generally. The biggest contributor identified by many is corruption and the influence that political positions, law enforcement or influential individuals can make when it comes to enforcing any financial laws that are broken. There are the obvious consequences that occur when it comes to not having regulatory banking regulations enforced by the government, which leads to a vicious cycle. This includes a negative impact on the overall economy of each country, a lack of trust in the financial industry and fear of those that are involved in the corruption, which can include political figures and law enforcement officers. The lack of technology or not having due processes and procedures in place can be just as important as the influence of corruption. If the financial institutions do not have monitoring systems in place to identify high risk customers, politically exposed individuals and high risk transactions, it is as detrimental as any other contributor to money laundering and financial crime.