AML - ICSA Channel islands Corporate Governance Conference - May 2012

Investing in governance

Chris van den Berg presented at the ICSA Channel Islands Governance Conference on 30 May 2012. It was a cross-island event and examined the benefits of good governance to businesses across the Channel Islands with regard to decision-making, the management of risk, transparency and reputation. It also had two focused stream sessions – one on the practical impact of the new Guernsey Code of Corporate Governance, the other looking at the ongoing fight in Jersey against money laundering.

Chris presented and discussed the Board’s responsibility of establishing a strategy to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism. He focussed on key issues that he has come across in various Anti Money Laundering (AML) engagements and how these could be prevented or rectified. The presentation also included the results of a short survey of a number of Non Executive Directors of regulated entities on AML compliance. He also discussed common shortcomings in management information and concluded the presentation with the following questions Boards should ask themselves?

  • How long does my average AML take-on procedure take?
  • Is this client going to be profitable once I factor in the compliance cost?
  • Do I know where AML really sits on my staff’s priority list?
  • Do I know if I’ve got staff in need of additional AML training?
  • Do we use our AML framework to restrict our BD strategy to targets we know we can actually take on?

The presentation attached gives some of the highlights that Chris covered during the conference. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact him.