Deloitte Offers Anti-Laundering Tool

September 29, 2005
Independent Financial Advisor

Following are excerpts taken from the September 29, 2005 edition of Independent Financial Advisor.

Deloitte is launching an anti-money laundering tool designed to cope with legislation that is expected to increase the compliance burden on financial planners.

The legislation, which despite having taken backwards steps in recent months is expected to eventually engulf the planning industry, may involve practitioners conducting client identity checks and ongoing transaction monitoring.

“We saw the way the legislation was coming through in places like Hong Kong and Singapore and the effect it was having on small business, Deloitte anti-money laundering team head Tim Phillipps said.

“We heard about the drafts here…and it became abundantly clear that all the small financial advisers and accountants and lawyers and anyone involved in financial transactions were being captured by the new laws.”

The web-based tool – which would cost planners around $3 per client check plus a monthly subscription fee dependent on the size of the practice – accesses the databases of two major agencies, World-Check and Carreker Corporation.

Deloitte will roll out the software in Australia in October, according to Phillipps, followed by subsequent distribution to other parts of the globe.