Financial and banking crime

The core goal of this paper is to identify guidance on how the research community can better transition their research into payment card fraud detection towards a transformation away from the current unacceptable levels of payment card fraud.  Payment card fraud is a serious and long-term threat to society (Ryman-Tubb & d’Avila Garcez, 2010) with an economic impact forecast to be $416bn in 2017 (see Appendix A).  The proceeds of this fraud are known to finance terrorism, arms and drug crime.  Until recently the patterns of fraud (fraud vectors) have slowly evolved and the criminals modus operandi (MO) has remained unsophisticated.  Disruptive technologies such as smartphones, mobile payments, cloud computing and contactless payments have emerged almost simultaneously with large-scale data breaches.  This has led to a growth in new fraud vectors, so that the existing methods for detection are becoming less effective.  This in turn makes further research in this domain important.  In this context, a timely survey of published methods for payment card fraud detection is presented with the focus on methods that use AI and machine learning.  The purpose of the survey is to consistently benchmark payment card fraud detection methods for industry using transactional volumes in 2017.  This benchmark will show that only eight methods have a practical performance to be deployed in industry despite the body of research.  The key challenges in the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to fraud detection are discerned.  Future directions are discussed and it is suggested that a cognitive computing approach is a promising research direction while encouraging industry data philanthropy.

The study has inquired about the determinants liquidity risk and investment risk of Nepalese cooperative society. The risks are measured by liquid assets to deposit ratio and average interest spread respectively. We did descriptive, correlation, and regression analysis of five year accounting data of 126 cooperatives of Kathmandu valley. The descriptive statistics show a huge gap between cooperatives with respect to size, earnings, activities, etc., and suggest that the cooperatives should be ranked and categorized according to their size so that a prompt regulation can be imposed to them. The significant positive correlation of deposit with variables such as investment, net earnings, size, liquid assets, interest earnings, interest expenses, etc. suggested deposit marketing is the most crucial instrument to build up size, to generate revenue and earnings, to increases the activities, etc. The finding from regression analysis show that the big sized cooperatives are lacking proper amount of liquidity, and suffering from liquidity risk. Moreover, the finding also suggests that strong permanent capital base have significant positive influence on adequate liquidity of the cooperatives. Similarly, cooperatives having higher credit to deposit ratio have liquidity deficit. The spread model suggests that cooperative bearing higher amount of investment risk are utilizing its assets efficiently, and holding an adequate amount of long term source of fund. Similarly, a big sized cooperative has abode with lower degree of investment risk.

There has been immense growth of financial services worldwide in the past few decades. This globalisation has led to increased cross-border activities enhancing global financial intermediation. Unfortunately, this development has been accompanied by a spate of transnational financial crimes. Financial crimes involve prohibited acts yielding financial benefit or the unlawful conversion by the wrongdoer of the ownership of property belonging to another person to the wrongdoer’s own personal use and benefit. The most prominent form of financial crimes that has attracted the attention of policy and law makers alike in recent times is Money Laundering.

Money laundering affects whole economies adversely and works against the economic, political and social development of economies worldwide. It has thus become pressing among the needs for countries to have strong anti-money laundering mechanisms coupled with the enhancement of transparent financial integrity to check the proliferation of this illegal act.

Ghana’s enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2008 (Act 749), together with the ECOWAS initiative illuminate further, the effort of countries in the sub-region in joining in the global effort to minimise the scourge of money laundering.
This paper seeks to examine the causes and nature of money laundering as an organised crime and how it detrimentally impact on the wellbeing of national economies. It shall further delve into the regulatory efficacy of the anti-money laundering initiative in solving and minimising the illegal activity.

Despite the ubiquity of illegality in today’s financial markets, systematic scrutiny of the phenomenon of financial crime is lacking in the fields of economic sociology and political economy. One field of research in which the illegal behaviors of business elites have long taken center stage is that of white-collar crime research. This paper makes available to economic sociologists and political economists an overview of the most important conceptual insights that have been produced in the white-collar crime literature. In doing so, its aim is to provide economic sociologists and political economists with a conceptual foundation for future research on financial crime. The paper first traces the evolution of the white-collar crime concept. Subsequently, it investigates how
white-collar crime scholars have conceptualized the way in which the empirical profile of white-collar crimes has evolved over the past decades and especially how the locus of such crimes has shifted away from industrial corporations to the financial services industry. It is argued that a fruitful avenue for future research on financial crime in
economic sociology and political economy consists in studying in more detail the interactions between the changing character of white-collar crime and the broader capitalist dynamics associated with processes of financialization.

— This This paper attempts to reconstruct and achieve learning from the mega financial crime that occurred at Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) during the global crisis and juxtapose it with fraudulent practices from a global perspective with the aim to acquire a broader knowledge on fraud, especially in shariah-based organizations. Thus, this paper could conceivably contribute to the rarely covered topic concerning financial crimes within Islamic organizations. Additionally, descriptive, comparative, and analytical research are exerted in this study. As for the findings, the scandal divulged that the significant power of the government exercised through mandating faith-based banking and acquiring major shareholding does not seem to prevent white-collar frauds much to the outrage of civilized lawmakers. This implies that just like its conventional counterpart, Islamic banking is not immune to fraud. In addition, the paper highlights that the most offensive misconducts found in the case are: i) the fraudulent activities were concealed or kept in secrecy; ii) there was a lack of 'shoulder to shoulder' knowledgeable people to oversee the risk and warning signs; and finally iii) the modus operandi employed was collaborating. Accordingly, the study refreshes and stresses to the influential characters involved, namely, respective regulators and top-level officials of the organization on the importance of robust, prudent, and sustainable practical conduct for they are the accredited people whose enforcement and in-company culture will distinguish the right from the wrong.

Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to examine the perception of corruption across Europe, Middle East and
Africa across a small population of Compliance employees within a global organisation.
Design/methodology/approach – An online survey consisting of 18 open and closed style questions
and those using the Likert scale to measure perceptions was used in this research. Some of the questions
were designed to enable supporting commentary to be provided.
Findings – This paper has only compounded the general published view of non-governmental
organisations and academics that corruption is real and widespread and affects society, irrespective of
age, culture or geographic location.
Research limitations/implications – This study was targeted at a Compliance function within one
organisation. Even though all the respondents would have had the same training, their perception might
not be the same as individuals in the same country who were not employed within the same
organisation.
Practical implications – This may benefit companies from a training perspective, as it
demonstrates the variety of opinions that exist within one organisation. It may also be of interest to
organisations such as Transparency International, who conduct periodic research into the perception of
corruption.
Social implications – This research highlights the differences of opinion just within one
organisation and thereby demonstrates the difficulties faced in tackling corruption.
Originality/value – As this research was conducted from an internal perspective within one
organization, it provides a unique insight into the views and opinions of employees across Europe,
Middle East and Africa.
Keywords Middle East, Europe, Africa, Perception, Corruption
Paper type Research paper

This paper attempts to reconstruct and achieve learning from the mega financial crime that occurred at Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) during the global crisis and juxtapose it with fraudulent practices from a global perspective with the aim to acquire a broader knowledge on fraud, especially in shariah-based organizations. Thus, this paper could conceivably contribute to the rarely covered topic concerning financial crimes within Islamic organizations. Additionally, descriptive, comparative, and analytical research are exerted in this study. As for the findings, the scandal divulged that the significant power of the government exercised through mandating faith-based banking and acquiring major shareholding does not seem to prevent white-collar frauds much to the outrage of civilized lawmakers. This implies that just like its conventional counterpart, Islamic banking is not immune to fraud. In addition, the paper highlights that the most offensive misconducts found in the case are: i) the ...

The Cyprus debt crisis provides some unique lessons on crisis management. By the time an assistance program was agreed with the Troika, the problem had become so complex that a depositor bail-in was implemented. This was a policy first for Eurozone and is now becoming a blueprint for dealing with future banking crises. This paper examines the events for the one-year period before the two eurogroup meetings on Cyprus on 17 and 25 March 2013 and the resulting resolution of the two systemic banks of the country with depositor bail-in. We show how delays in dealing with the crisis exacerbated the problem but also how the tools brought in to solve the problem created significant adverse side effects. Available evidence questions the validity of confidential studies guiding the policy decisions on depositor haircut and argues that the implemented bail-in violated international principles of fairness.

Description and explanation of the relationship between economic downturn and crime have to date been limited by the narrow scope of criminal activity characteristically selected as a focus by pertinent criminological scholarship. Efforts to examine the relationship have overwhelmingly approached it through the prism of common property and violent offences, or, and to a lesser degree, white-collar crime. As a consequence, appreciation has been impeded of the existence and heightened political significance of diverse and complex connections between different forms of criminality during times of economic downturn. To demonstrate the value of such connections to the study of the relationship between economic downturn and crime, we draw on the contemporary experience of crisis-hit Greece, where the political importance of associations between corruption, illicit political violence, and common property and violent offences, has made them indispensable components of any account of the relationship between economic downturn and crime in the Greek context.

Translations and metaphor usage are analyzed in specialized texts in the realm of public safety and specifically in relation to financial crime prevention, deterrence, detection, and prosecution.  Within this community, agents from a wide variety of linguistic areas use English to interact with their counterparts, the media, the public and other interested parties regarding international financial crime.  It is then common for specific metaphors regarding security threats and crime prevention to be used, though these can potentially lead to ineffective and sometimes failed communication. 
The hypothesis is that within language for specific purposes, such as the variety used by international security and public safety enforcers, the most frequently used metaphors are those that are lexicalized in the English language.  However, there are perceptible differences in the use of translated metaphors, as certain patterns of code-switching with loan words and other strategies of “compensation” are detectable in cases where the Spanish target language does not have lexicalized metaphors. These differences can lead to communication that is either ineffective or inadequate.
We will provide examples of failed communication of metaphors in the English to Spanish directionality and show how a specialized, unidirectional corpus can serve to improve the quality of communication in this specific language variety in Spanish. We expect to demonstrate how researchers, translators and educators can use the large amount of data from the corpus to further analyze this language variety, to make improved translation choices in real situations and to develop a pedagogy for teaching translation of international financial crime texts from English into Spanish.

Not really. In retrospect, as far as money laundering goes, September 11 may be perceived as a watershed as important as the precipitous collapse of communism in 1989. Both events have forever altered the patterns of the global flows of illicit capital.

While a growing number of high profile financial crime cases have hit the headlines recently the topic of financial crime is also generating much attention amongst academics and practitioners. This series will be the first to be dedicated to the law of financial, or economic, crime and offers a platform for important and original research in this area.　　

Books in the series will cover traditional subjects of financial crime including money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, market abuse, insider dealing, market manipulation, tax evasion, bribery and corruption. But broader legal and regulatory issues will also be covered as well as emerging areas of concern such as the risks to stability of the financial system posed by financial crime. Emphasis will be placed on comparative approaches to the subject considering legislation across a number of jurisdictions as well as international regulations where appropriate, giving the series a truly global outlook.　

The titles in the series are primarily aimed at an audience of researchers, scholars and practitioners in the area but should also be of interest to policy makers, law enforcement agencies, financial regulatory agencies, as well as people employed within the financial services sector

Mobile money has made it possible for the unbanked to access financial service to areas previous not accessibly to traditional banking systems. Africa in particular, has indeed seen a growth in use of such services owing to the high penetration of mobile phones. While traditional banking services have been well regulated and secured, mobile money services are still new and vulnerable. Also, attacks and crimes targeting the internet, new technologies and new methods of payments have become sophisticated. This scenario requires novel proactive, real time techniques and solutions to detect financial crimes in mobile money transactions (MMT). The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 2012 requires mobile money to be subject for monitoring and for compliance. Payment systems have evolved from hard cash, to credit cards, debit cards and now to the M-money, there are several approaches that have been used to detect financial crime in platforms such as credit cards and in the traditional banki...

I have recently had the opportunity to review the volume Dirty Assets edited by Colin King, who is Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex, and Clive Walker, who is Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Leeds.

I have found the book fascinating in that it focuses on the necessity of interrupting the massive illicit financial flows that exist at both domestic and transnational level and represent the lifeblood of any criminal organisation.

An entire chapter deals with specific measures designed to tackle the financing of terrorism. To my mind, taking into consideration the recent spreading of terrorist activities at the global level, the inclusion of such a part appears to be essential.