It’s a bit surprising to hear identity theft called “the greatest emerging financial crime threat,” given the number of years the problem has been around, but that was the number one choice of 30 AML execs from global, national and regional banks surveyed by AML vendor Fortent.
Some 52 percent of those surveyed listed ID theft as the greatest emerging threat; filling out the ranks were “virtual world” payment systems, electronic checking, employee fraud and stored value cards.
Perhaps bankers have given up on ever getting a national identity theft/data breach law; 78 percent said new payment products is the area they expect to see the greatest regulatory interest in the next five years. Next in that category was trade finance, 43 percent predict that market will get new scrutiny and rules.
Finally, the bankers say Eastern Europe, excluding Russia, leads the world in suspicious activity relating to money laundering, followed by Russia, the Middle East/North Africa, and the rest of Africa.
