Money Laundering Costs Financial Institutions Dearly, But Agencies Vow to Crack Down

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Financial institutions are facing significant costs in terms of resources and lost profits as they struggle to detect and report money laundering. According to recent reports, a substantial number of financial institutions have failed to detect or report money laundering, with some even engaging in the illegal activity themselves.

Enhancing Efforts to Prevent Money Laundering

The Task Force, comprised of various agencies, is taking steps to enhance its efforts to prevent and disrupt money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. The agencies will provide training for their staff on these issues and work closely with financial institutions to detect and report suspicious activities.

“We recognize that financial institutions play a critical role in detecting and reporting money laundering,” said a spokesperson for the Task Force. “However, we also acknowledge that they cannot be left solely responsible for this task. Our agencies will actively search their own data holdings for indicators of these offenses and share information with other agencies to facilitate disruption, deterrence, and prevention.”

Deterrence, Disruption, and Prevention

Deterrence

The Task Force is committed to deterring offenders from engaging in illegal activities by emphasizing the robustness of Samoa’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and proliferation financing systems. The agencies will actively seek out and engage in activities that highlight the high risk of detection and punishment for those who engage in money laundering, terrorist financing, or proliferation financing.

Disruption

Disruption efforts may include prosecution of offenders and confiscation of illicit assets. The Task Force will also use other approaches to reduce the harm caused by these offenses, such as targeting syndicates and entities involved in these activities.

Prevention

Prevention is a key aspect of the Task Force’s strategy, involving the development of strategies to prevent others from following in the footsteps of previous offenders. This includes reviewing intelligence on money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing and formulating strategies to prevent repetition or similar offenses.

Regular Testing and Co-Operation

Regular Testing

The Task Force recognizes that AML/CTF/CPF systems must be regularly tested and corrected to ensure their effectiveness. The agencies will conduct regular testing of their systems, with corrective actions put in place to address identified deficiencies.

Cooperation

Cooperation among agencies is crucial in the fight against profit-driven crime. The Task Force member agencies will share information and personnel freely in both formal and informal arrangements, with the FIU serving as a key source of intelligence.

Focus on Facilitators

The Task Force has determined that it is more cost-effective to change the behavior of facilitators of money laundering than to target individual predicate offenders. AML/CTF resources will be applied in a manner that has the greatest possible impact, with a focus on targeting facilitators and those who launder the proceeds of multiple predicate offenses.

High-Risk Areas

The Task Force will conduct regular assessments of ML/TF/PF risks and apply its resources to known money laundering activities before moving on to lower-order risks.