SA spends more than Switzerland on anti-money laundering laws, says study
SA spends more than Switzerland on compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws, a new study has found. The South African financial services sector spends an estimated $2.05bn (R24.3bn) a year on AML compliance, according to research issued on Thursday by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a company that sells risk management technology. This is higher than the $1.2bn paid annually by the sector in Switzerland and the $2bn paid by Dutch companies, according to Seyfi Günay, head of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The South African study is based on responses from a representative sample of 59 banks, insurers and asset managers, including 17 with assets exceeding $50bn. These were extrapolated to reflect the entire sector. The research underscores the hefty bills banks rack up to remain on the right side of financial sector laws. The cost of non-compliance would be more expensive, as recent fines indicate. The Reserve Bank fined SA’s big four banks R125m in 2014 over lax AML...
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