Handbook for designing money laundering and terroristfinancing risk matrices. A proposal based upon Argentina's experience

PABLO IGNACIO CHENA, LEANDRO TOMAS AMORETTI Y GERMÁN KIELMAYER

Ciudad de México

Seminario; Seminario "Puertas Abiertas"; 2011

The increase in Money Laundering (ML) and Terrorism Financing (TF) crimes currently registered at world level poses new challenges for controlling agencies of National States. The Financial Information Unit (UIF) of Argentina is not an exception and currently face an extremely large operational challenge, due to the increase of the Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) submitted every day to the FIU, as a result of the new regulations in the subject. To answer these increasing demands, we promoted a full reestructuration of the processes of analysis of the previously existing STRs with the aim of adapting them to the best international practices, through the concept of Comprehensive Risk Management. In this new management strategy, the development of a ML/FT risk matrix plays a vital role in determining, based in certain indicators previously defined, the level of qualitative risk of each STR and in establishing a priority ranking among them.This Handbook for designing Money Laundering (ML) and Financing of Terrorism (FT) Risk Matrices? is aimed at conveying some theoretical and methodologic aspects we had to face when developing our own risk matrix and which could be useful for future experiences.