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AML and business ethics: The Caribbean and Latin/South America
Journal of Financial Compliance,
2
(2),
102-110
(2018)
Abstract
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.
Keywords: Caribbean; Latin/South America; business ethics; corruption; anti-money laundering
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Author's Biography
Patricia Rodriguez-Autore has extensive experience in the financial industry and is a subject expert in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/anti-money laundering (AML), compliance protection, (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OFAC)), (Customer Information Program (CIP)/ Customer Due Diligence (CDD)/ Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)), governance/risk assessment, intelligence reform/Terrorism Prevention Act and fraud/financial crimes. She specialises in domestic and international regulations, laws, policies and financial fraud. This includes the support of prevention, detection and resolution. Patricia has over 15 years of experience assisting and working with regulatory and governmental agencies (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC), Federal Reserve, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), etc). She has a Master’s degree in business with a concentration in compliance and business ethics, multiple certifications in ACAMS, audit management, is a fraud analytical expert and leading operational excellence through MIT. Patricia has worked in all types of financial institutions with larger companies such as Bank of America and JP Mortgage Chase, private banking, credit unions and community banks in the BSA/AML department and financial crimes within the financial intelligence unit. She is an expert speaker who speaks in both domestic and international countries including Latin America and the Caribbean pertaining to all elements including, but not limited to: money laundering, terrorist-related financing, financial crimes, bank secrecy programmes, high risk accounts and proper due diligence. Patricia is currently the Senior Vice President of Deposit Compliance BSA Officer for Congressional Bank. She is responsible for all aspects of the BSA/AML/OFAC and compliance programme along with fraud.
