Financial Crime World

Finland’s Financial Regulators Issue Updated Warning on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks

The Finnish Ministry of Finance and Ministry of the Interior have issued an updated Nation Risk Assessment for Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. This assessment highlights the persisting risks in various sectors and emerging phenomena.

Key Risks

  1. International Money Remittances: Unofficial international money remittances, including those facilitated through hawala operators, pose a significant risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.
  2. Virtual Currency Providers: Authorities consider virtual currency providers, banks, and payment service providers equally vulnerable to these illicit activities.
  3. Lack of Information Sharing: Information sharing between public authorities, private sector entities, and obliged entities remains a challenge.
  4. Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Sanctions evasion and corruption in political decision-making, along with the increased use of remote services, are additional risks under analysis. Cybercrime emerges as the most substantial risk in remote services.

Action Plan

The risk assessment’s action plan for this and next year includes the following strategic priorities:

  1. Raising General Awareness: Enhancing general awareness of money laundering and terrorist financing.
  2. Enhancing Information Exchange: Improving information exchange, statistical compilation, and legislative development.
  3. Mitigating High-Risk Scenarios: Implementing measures to mitigate high-risk scenarios identified in the assessment.
  4. Digitalisation: Encouraging digitalisation in supervising money laundering and terrorist financing prevention, as well as risk management.

New Additions

For the first time, unregistered hawala operators have been added to the action plan due to their high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Contact

For more information, please contact: