Search results

The purpose of this paper is to argue for an integrated explanation of financial fraud. Greater emphasis must be placed on the structural and situational factors that are the elements of fraud risks and fraud.

The paper is based on a review of the literature on the explanation of financial fraud. Both micro- and macro-theoretical explanations of fraud were analysed to allow for a broader picture of the types of individuals that were involved in fraud, the rules governing their conduct and the types of law they broke.

The main reason why people commit fraud is that their crime propensity interacts with the elements present in criminogenic environments. Indeed, because most of the research on structural theories of fraud focuses on general criminality, not much has been done in the area of financial fraud. More research needs to be carried out to excavate the subterranean cluster of narrative on fraud risks and fraud.

To address the future contingency of fraud risks, the paper adopted a similar position of prior accounting research on financial crimes. The structural explanation of fraudulent behaviour considers individuals’ actions to be less the result of individual deviance and more the cause of societal forces. Structural theories take into consideration the individual psychology of the offenders and position it to reflect the various realities – institutional, structural and cultural life – they are caught up in. Future research must endeavour to address these concerns.

The manuscript is among a new stream of literature that addresses the structural elements of financial fraud.

This study aims to examine the demographic factors of investors, contributing to financial victimization that occurs in Canada from June of 2008 to December of 2019.

In all 235 cases disclosing the details of financial crime victims are collected from the Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) enforcement platform between June of 2009 and December of 2019 for the analysis. The study used a descriptive analysis to showcase the demographic characteristics of investors who have been victims of financial crimes in Canada.

The findings indicate that these investors of age 60 and above were more likely to fall prey to various types of financial crime. The results also disclosed that retirees and investors with limited investment knowledge increase the probability of being vulnerable to the perpetrators than others.

Overall, the study helps regulators in the securities industry gain insights into demographic portraits of the more vulnerable investors. Hence, more precautionary measures could pitch into these concerns to protect specific subsets of investors from investment fraud.

Individuals who are more vulnerable to investment fraud might not be entirely comparable with the stereotypical victims that most studies portray. The research gap could cause individual investors who appear to be at lower risk to unconsciously fall prey to investment fraud. The IIROC study, detailing the demographic factors of victims, can fill the gap and improve understanding of the tendency of victims.

This paper aims to highlight the relationship between money laundering and the patterns of behaviour evident throughout the larger structural environment of the Swiss banking sector. In particular, the paper used HSBC as a prototype case of structural ritualisation to show that the normalisation of corrupt, unethical behaviour in the banking environment has shaped and influenced the behaviour and actions of the embedded group actors.

The paper used a content analysis methodological approach of media sources to collect data. The content analysis was categorised into six core ritualised symbolic practices (RSP) categories – corruption, reputation, blame, ignorance, regret and criticism.

The findings reveal that the highly ranked RSPs involving corruption, reputation, blame, regret, ignorance and criticism influence the embedded group’s patterns of behaviour, and they formed part of the cognitive script that dictated their behaviour and actions in the Swiss banking sector.

The paper added to the calls by Swiss policymakers for amendments to Swiss bank secrecy laws to reflect the changing landscape of international banking and finance.

This is the first paper of its kind to study ritualised illegal practices related to money laundering in the Swiss banking sector.

The purpose of this paper is to present an argument for the use of cognitive interviews to be use in financial crime investigations. In particular, the paper argues that the components of cognitive interview make it useful for financial crime investigators to gather and collate information on financial criminality.

The paper chronicles the literature on cognitive interviews to critically evaluate its usefulness in previous studies.

A critical examination of the literature shows that cognitive interviews were successfully used in a variety of circumstances. Despite its difficulties, the empirical evidence reveals that cognitive interview fared well in laboratory studies across different (and vulnerable) population groups.

There is evidence to suggest that cognitive interviews can be an effective technique to interview witnesses of financial crimes. The fact that white-collar criminals, more often than not, comes from a “gentleman background” and are not accustomed to the role of “criminal suspect,” makes cognitive interview techniques a useful tool for fraud investigators.

To the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper of its kind to conduct a thorough literature review and apply cognitive interview techniques to financial crime investigation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the various characteristics of mobile money transactions and the threats they present to anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing regimes.

A thorough literature review was conducted on mobile money transactions and the associated money-laundering and terrorist financing threats. Four key themes were identified in relations to the three stages of money laundering and effective law enforcement.

The findings indicate that as money laundering and terrorist financing transactions continue to gravitate towards the weaknesses in the financial system, mobile money provides yet another avenue for criminals to exploit. Risk factors associated with anonymity, elusiveness, rapidity and lack of oversights were all integral considerations in building an effective AML regime. The use of cash is considered a higher threat than mobile money prior to implementation of systems and controls.

This rapidly changing environment of how individuals manage their money during transactions is set to further explode globally, which poses new problems for regulators and governments alike. Unless there is a unified concentration to heighten global awareness, the imposing threat of mobile money is set to increase at a rapid rate if appropriate actions are not taken.

The findings from this study can be used to gain greater insights on mobile money transactions and raise further awareness of the ever-increasing threat to global financial integrity.

The purpose of this paper is to use statistical techniques to mine and analyze suspicious transactions. With the increase in money laundering activities across various sectors in some of the world’s leading democracies, the ability to detect such transactions is gaining grounds with more urgency. Regulators and practitioners have been calling for an approach that can mine the large volume of unstructured data form suspicious money laundering transactions to inform public policies.

By deducing from the results of empirical studies in the field of money laundering detection, this paper presented an overview of data mining technology for detecting suspicious transactions.

After chronicling the data mining process, the paper delves into an analysis of the statistical approaches that can be used to differentiate between legitimate and suspicious money laundering transactions. The different stages of the data mining process are carefully explained in relation to their application to anti-money laundering compliance. The results indicate that statistical data mining methodology is a very efficient and useful technique to detect suspicious transactions.

The paper is of relevance to regulators and the financial service sector. A discussion of how data can be mined to facilitate statistical analysis can be used to inform regulatory policies on the detection and prevention of money laundering activities in the financial service sector.

The paper discuss approaches that illustrate how analysts can use statistical techniques to analyze data for suspicious money laundering transactions

The purpose of this paper is to formulate and propose a fraud investigation plan that forensic accountants can use to investigate financial frauds. In particular, the paper sets out the structure and rationale of the fraud investigation plan that both forensic accountants and fraud examiners can use in their investigation of false accounting and theft charges.

The paper uses the material facts from the Polly Peck International fraud as a prototype case upon which to build an investigation plan and detail potential areas of investigation to establish evidence for a criminal trial.

The findings revealed that the case can be used to provide insights on evidence gathering techniques and test particular models of fraud detection. The concealment and conversion evidence gathering techniques provide fodder on how to gather and triangulate both direct and circumstantial evidence that can be used to avoid mistrials in courts.

The case is of interest to practitioners and forensic and fraud examination students who would like to build on their existing knowledge and obtain insights into the steps to follow to conduct an investigation and gather evidence to build a case. The paper makes specific recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of investigations.

The paper is among one of the few to propose a fraud investigation plan designed to investigate cases involving false accounting and theft charges. More importantly, the paper uses a real case to illustrate how to examine documentation/data and how such documentation will be analysed in a trial.

This paper aims to examine the influence Jones’ Moral Intensity Model (1991) has on the decision-making process of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance officers charged with reporting suspicious money laundering transactions in Jersey.

Ten interviews were conducted to elicit participants’ views on the six dimensions of moral intensity and their influence on the compliance officers’ decision to submit a suspicious activity report (SAR) of potential money laundering.

The findings indicate that the officers’ moral intensity to submit a SAR seems to be heavily influenced by issue-specific contextual factors. Contexts (legal and legislative mandates) seem to have more of an effect on the moral intent and actions of the officers rather than directly affecting the decision to submit a report of a suspicious money laundering transaction.

The paper lays the groundwork for further work in this area and calls on researchers to develop instruments that can enhance the measurements of the dimensions of moral intensity.

The setting (AML in the financial sector) is both timely and extremely interesting to keep studying, particularly in Jersey because of its dubious sensitive particularities.

The study is the first to examine Jersey AML sector through the lens of moral intensity. In this sense, the paper poses interesting questions, namely, to explore the dynamic complexities experienced by compliance officers in Jersey to detect and report suspicious money laundering activities and the decision-making criteria of actually submitting a SAR.

The purpose of this paper is to review the quantum and magnitude of tax avoidance in Nigeria's top seven banks by using recognized tax avoidance proxies of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) effective tax rate (ETR) and book-tax gap analysis for the appraisal.

Data for the paper came from the annual reports of the banks between 2011 and 2019. The individual bank’s tax data was analyzed for trends and then consolidated to establish the average percentages and the exact amount of the tax the banks evaded each year and cumulatively over the review period. The data were then matched with analytics of the drivers of tax avoidance in the reconciliation statement to highlight essential tax planning items and strategies being exploited by each bank in the pursuit of aggressive tax avoidance behavior.

F-test comparing the aggregate means (all banks) for tax evasion proxies of ETR and the book-tax gap was conducted at a 95% confidence interval. The results of this paper indicate no significant difference between the means obtained, thus affirming that the same pattern of tax evasion was consistent among the banks for the years reviewed.

The findings of this paper highlight the tax avoidance behavior of the referenced banks, identify weaknesses in the corporate tax planning policy pursued and serve to alert policymakers of the need to strengthen the laws and block loopholes that provide rooms for unrestrained tax avoidance behavior in the banking sector.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the anti-money laundering (AML) policies and procedures applied by the banks operating in Bahrain and assess the effectiveness of these policies.

Data for the study came from semi-structured interviews with compliance officers in Bahrain’s banking sector. A total of 22 interviews were conducted with Bahraini money laundering reporting officers and bankers.

The findings indicate that the banks in Bahrain comply with international AML procedures in combating money laundering. Despite Bahrain being ranked as having strong compliance policies and AML procedures among the Gulf Cooperation Council region, there are still issues with regulatory technology that needs to be addressed.

While there has been a positive impact of AML procedures, there are always more procedures that can be taken into consideration by banks in Bahrain to have more robust mechanisms to mitigate against the threat of money laundering.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to conduct an informed study of the effectiveness of compliance in the Bahrain’s financial sector. It can be used as a foundation paper for more mix-research on money laundering threats facing Bahrain’s banks.