Laurence Howland helps people understand Anti-Money Laundering laws
I recently attended UK Training’s first presentation of our brand new course, Anti-Money Laundering and Preventing Financial Crime. The course was presented by Laurence Howland, a foremost expert in the subject and regular presenter of our criminal finance courses.
The presentation was held at Hamilton House, the headquarters of the National Education Union. It is a popular venue with our customers, being close to both King’s Cross and Euston stations. It is just across the road from the British Library, so very easy to find.
Laurence has 30 years experience of working with HMRC as a criminal investigator and a specialist in tax fraud and financial crime. He has also spent over 4 years as the UK Fiscal Crime Liaison Officer to Beijing working directly with the Chinese government and across the Far East to improve mutual understanding of and collaboration on international fraud and money laundering. He has acted as an expert witness in cases involving the underground transfer of funds from China to the UK. The subject of China came up several times during the day and Laurence had many interesting stories to illustrate his points.
Delegates attending the course included people working in compliance, finance, legal, security and company secretarial roles. Sectors represented included banking, insurance, manufacturing, private education, construction, recruitment and accounting. This varied mix led to some really intriguing scenarios being discussed that had everybody engaged and revealed a number of surprises about the inventive ways in which money is laundered.
One piece of information which surprised many delegates was the use of free-standing cash machines that are used by criminal organisations to launder dirty money. These machines are loaned, for example, to small shops and mini-markets. When money is withdrawn by users a payment is made from the customers bank account to a ‘clean’ account set up by the criminals. The dirty money (proceeds of crime) enters general circulation and is therefore undetectable to the authorities. The shopkeepers are unaware of the activity and simply see the addition of a cash machine as an extra service to their customers.
After the course one delegate said to me: “I found Laurence’s stories and explanations so interesting. I really have learned a lot today and now I understand the some of the reasons behind various things I’ve seen happen in the past. A fascinating day!”
I have to concur with that view. I am not well versed in the subject myself but you do not need to be to get a great deal out of this course. The feedback was excellent and several people stayed behind to ask questions about their own particular situations.
If you think that you or one of your colleagues would benefit from attending this course, then have a look at the full course description here.
Written by Paul Murphy
http://www.uktraining.eu/news-article/laurence-howland-helps-people-understand-antimoney-laundering-laws/88