While the clandestine nature of the crime means that it’s hard to estimate an exact figure, the UK's Treasury Committee in 2019 estimated that the cost of money laundering to the UK could be as high as £37 billion each year. Not tackling money laundering does not just come with a financial cost however, with inaction significantly harming the UK's reputation and economic competitiveness.

One of the key means of tackling the practice that is increasingly emerging in the industry is transaction monitoring(TM). TM involves the persistent monitoring of customer transactions for suspicious activity through the use of automated systems which analyse data in real- or near real-time. Such systems, when deployed effectively, can identify patterns and anomalies in transaction activity, such as unusually large or frequent transactions, or transactions with high-risk countries or individuals.

In this fireside chat, FStech editor Jonathan Easton speaks to Adam McLaughlin, Global Head of Financial Crime Strategy & Marketing, AML at NICE Actimize, about how TM is being used by financial institutions to tackle the ever-present problem of money laundering.