Bermuda 'Must Intensify Anti-Money Laundering Fight'

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

21 December 2004

The Bermudian office of accounting firm KPMG has called upon organisations in the private and public sectors to redouble their efforts to prevent money laundering activities, highlighting the need for a greater public awareness of the issue.

Revealing the findings of a global anti-money laundering survey commissioned by KPMG’s UK office, Malcolm Butterfield, managing director of Financial Advisory Services (FAS) at KPMG Bermuda suggested that local anti-money laundering policies, and a general awareness of the issues should be a priority for the entire community, the Royal Gazette reported.

“There are billions of dollars in money laundering schemes in effect worldwide and we cannot be naive to think that Bermuda won’t be targeted,” Mr Butterfield stated, continuing:

“A collaborative effort between the police, government and the public is required to combat it.”

The KPMG survey found that responding banks were placing a higher emphasis on addressing anti-money laundering issues, whilst compliance costs have risen some 60% over the last three years.

“Basically financial institutions in the UK are allocating more resources to developing robust anti-money laundering strategies and procedures, in terms of finances, people and management time,” observed Mr. Butterfield, adding that Bermudian regulators, the private sector and the government have all moved in line with this trend.

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