Low Figure in Financial Crime Combating: Institutions Report Only 1.2 Million Unusual Transactions

A Surprisingly Low Number of Suspicious Transactions

Amsterdam, Netherlands - Despite significant efforts to combat financial crime, a surprisingly low figure has emerged from the country’s financial institutions. According to a recent report, only 1.2 million unusual transactions were reported to the FIU-NL (Financial Intelligence Unit of the Netherlands) in 2021.

Institutions Progress in Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

The report highlights that while institutions have made progress in preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, the actual number of suspicious transactions remains relatively low. The majority of reports came from payment institutions, including:

• Money transfer institutions
• Crypto service providers
• Banks

Measures to Prevent Criminal Activities

Customer due diligence procedures, transaction monitoring, and reporting unusual transactions are key measures taken by financial institutions to prevent criminal activities. However, it seems that these efforts have not yielded the expected results, with only a small fraction of transactions deemed suspicious.

Increased Capacity, but Limited Impact

The report also shows that institutions have increased their capacity in this area in recent years, but the actual number of reports has not seen a significant jump. For example:

• Banks reported 1054% more unusual transactions to FIU-NL in 2021 than in 2017
• However, the overall figure remains relatively low

Experts’ Concerns and Recommendations

Experts believe that while progress is being made, more needs to be done to combat financial crime effectively. “It’s concerning that despite increased efforts, the number of suspicious transactions remains so low,” said a leading expert in the field. “We need to see more robust measures taken to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.”

Government Plans to Strengthen Regulations

The Dutch government has announced plans to strengthen its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations, but it remains to be seen whether these efforts will have a significant impact on the number of suspicious transactions reported.

Call to Action for Financial Institutions

In the meantime, financial institutions are being urged to remain vigilant and continue to report any unusual transactions to prevent criminal activities from going undetected.