2020 Foresight Report: The Impact of Anti-Money Laundering Regulations on Wealth Management

Synopsis
The report provides a detailed overview of anti-money laundering (AML) initiatives taken by governments and regulatory bodies across the world to combat rapidly growing money laundering activity:
 Examines the impact of money laundering and how wealth management and other financial institutions have taken measures to deal with such illicit activity
 Provides a global perspective on various money laundering activities and the measures being taken to tackle the problem, in terms of enactment of regulations and coordination between nations
 Provides an insight into various AML regulatory developments that have taken place in key markets and their impact on their respective governments, financial institutions and customers
Summary
Governments and regulatory bodies have taken numerous measures to curb money laundering activities in the last decade. The phenomenon has assumed increased urgency since 2008-2009 when economies across the world, developed nations in particular, were severely impacted by the financial crisis. Following the global economic slowdown, a number of regulations have been enforced; proposals for the Fourth Money Laundering Directive by the European Commission (EC) in 2013, the launch of new FATF money laundering recommendations in 2012, and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in the US are key recent developments in global AML regulation. These initiatives are intended to strengthen the global AML regulatory environment and increase pressure on financial institutions to comply.

While AML compliance in North America and Europe is highly developed, it is yet to reach these standards in a number of emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America. While many countries in these regions have formulated AML regulations in the past, effective enforcement by local regulators has been the key challenge. However, governments and regulatory bodies in these nations have demonstrated their interest in bringing their AML compliance in line with international standards. Limited regulatory enforcement and rising money laundering activity have compelled global financial institutions in these economies to take a proactive approach to improve their AML processes, such as know your customer (KYC) and customer due diligence (CDD). 
Scope
 This report provides an overview of AML awareness levels and the level of regulatory enforcement in countries across various regions
 Discusses key factors which drive governments and regulatory bodies to formulate and implement AML regulations, and also discusses money laundering activity in key markets
 Outlines the key operational and technological challenges that financial institutions face due to the rapid rise in money laundering activity and frequent regulatory upgrades
 Provides a comprehensive analysis of AML compliance spending trends during the review period (2008-2012) and over the forecast period (2013-2017). The report also provides an overview of market dynamics and key vendors operating in AML
 Outlines the key recommendations provided by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to improve AML processes across different countries and financial institutions
 Discusses in detail the best practices adopted by government institutions as well as financial institutions to curb money laundering activities
Reason To Buy
 Assess the impact of money laundering activities on the global economy and financial system and learn how financial institutions have been taking initiatives to deal with such activities
 Gain insight into various regulatory developments that have been taken place across different markets to combat rising money laundering activities
 Analyze the impact of operational and technological challenges on the business operations of wealth management and other financial institutions caused by these regulatory developments
 Understand the best practices adopted by government bodies and wealth management companies to curb these illicit activities, with the help of case examples
Key Highlights
 The rapid growth of money laundering and other illicit activities has become a major issue for governments and financial institutions across the world. 
 Fighting money laundering has become a priority for governments and other international bodies, which are increasingly concerned about the consequences of these illicit activities on corporate governance and business operations in the financial sector, as well as the overall fundamentals of the world economy.
 Governments and regulatory bodies across the world have been tightening regulations to combat money laundering. Economies such as the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, Japan and Singapore have strong AML regulations in place, while Canada, Brazil, Russia, India and China are taking initiatives to introduce AML regulations.
 Financial institutions face a number of operational and technological challenges due to changes in regulations. These entail increased regulatory complexity and improvements in IT systems, documentation and record keeping. Reduced customer privacy is also expected to be a rising concern, due to increasing disclosure and information sharing requirements.