Cliff Knuckey. who set up Scotland Yard?s money laundering investigation team, has launched RISC Global, for organisations having to meet new anti-money laundering regulations.
Now included are auditors, external accountants, insolvency practitioners, notaries, tax consultants, casino operators, auctioneers and any dealer in high-value goods such as art, jewels or cars. He says: ‘As anti-money laundering measures in the financial sector have become more robust, criminals have been turning to the unregulated sectors where large transactions were processed with little oversight. That is, up to now. The opportunities for laundering ‘dirty’ money are endless. And in this borderless electronic age there are no natural frontiers. So our ability to understand money laundering is limited only by our capacity to think laterally.’
During Cliff?s tenure, the team recovered nearly œ80 million in criminal assets. Now, Knuckey is using his experience to help firms ? particularly small- to medium-sized companies in the newly regulated sectors ? combat money laundering. While the regulations are quite complex and the penalties for non-compliance stiff, Knuckey is confident that just a little bit of guidance will put many of these companies on a secure footing. Knuckey says: "But once you start thinking like a launderer and implement the right controls, everything pretty much falls into place." RISC Global offers two programmes. Its 12-month Core Service will provide firms with all the ?must have? compliance tools – plus regular updates on money laundering issues and 24-hour support from its team of advisors. Or, those companies with anti-money laundering systems in place can cherry pick RISC Global?s Discretionary Services for specialist advice, or help with due diligence and investigations. Companies suspecting criminal activity can now find expert knowledge to determine whether or not to file Suspicious Activity Reports or advice on Consent issues. Then again, they may need to run enhanced due diligence on new or existing client business.
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"After many years investigating money-related criminal activities, there isn?t much I haven?t seen. So it?s less difficult for me to spot the red flags that are indicative of criminals laundering money," Knuckey says. "However, what never ceases to surprise me is how few controls and training schemes businesses have in place to combat ever-increasing levels of money laundering. In many instances, it?s an accident waiting to happen."
