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Global Correspondent Banking And Financial Crime Risk Management

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Since the 2008 financial crisis, international correspondent banks have had to face a number of challenges, like lower transaction volumes, shrinking profit margins, scepticism by regulators on money-laundering activities and incomprehensible risk parameters. A new report by the Financial Times on global banks cutting their corresponding banking operations and networks short and scraping off respondent banks and financial institutions from their clientle is a no-brainer for international banking watchdogs. Risk management is still dodgy, to say the least, in global banks. And the new measures won’t do much to help their purpose.

This retraction on the part of global correspondent banks is seen as a misdirected step by the financial intelligentsia who believe it will undo their efforts and insights into disrupting organised crime and cross-border money laundering activities. From the financial institutions’ point of view, the revocation of the networks will lead to new, unexplored challenges in financial crime and corresponding financial crime risk management. These will have expensive repercussions for correspondent banking in the event of compliance programmes not being customised to take on terrorist financing activities.

Why did correspondent banking succeed?

Previously, global correspondent banking business was based on trust and credibility. When the Euro was introduced as a currency back in 1999, few were aware of the problems some national as well as regional banks had to cope with. They weren’t able to process transactions that were Euro-denominated. C-suite level telephonic conversations kept trade systems running, with one bank reassuring the other about extending credit lines which gave the latter sufficient time to smoothen currency exchange glitches. Billions were guaranteed over the humble phone lines on the basis of years of correspondent banking relationships and trust.

The correspondent banking business relies heavily on how banks manage their institutional relationships with the various stakeholders clients, colleagues and competitors many times one and the same. During a crisis like war, economic upheaval or force majeure, under the able-guidance of banking leaders, correspondent banking networks at the regional level took charge and addressed financial blockages in single or multiple countries through inter-bank communication and due to their vested interests in advancing banking stability.

SWIFT key to financial intelligence

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication or SWIFT facilitates highly secure financial communication between banks and is the most trusted mode of messaging between respondent and correspondent banks. This financial information contained in international banking networks can greatly help financial intelligence concerns. Suspicious and misappropriated transaction reports from correspondent banks can throw a lot of light on the bank’s reach into other, under-developed or emerging markets, which is a goldmine for financial risk analysts.

With international financial institutions pulling out of their correspondent banking networks, their reach will definitely reduce. The anti-money laundering compliance teams at these banks will have to content themselves with less information for analysis and reporting any possible suspicious operations. As such, financial intelligence wings in international financial centres like New York, London, Toronto, Paris, Frankfurt and Sydney will receive less information on trends and suspicious banking activities in emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Financial risk management loses potency; needs corrective measures fast

Due to a rise in sophisticated, cross-border money laundering schemes, this stunting of financial intelligence quality as well as quantity will render financial risk management analysis incapable of piecing together illicit activity patterns. Here are a few steps both respondent and correspondent banks should take:

Major correspondent banks will have to be more stringent with their anti-money laundering compliances in order to compensate for diminished financial intelligence capabilities in emerging markets.

Both front- and back-end office staff need to be trained on the risks of terrorist-financing activities due to money-laundering and will, invariably be, the main line of defence against respondent banks and their highly-shielded anti-social elements.

Respondent banks will have to comply and implement preventative and risk-based anti-money laundering approaches formulated by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). International financial risk management standards are expected of such banks. Financial crime analysis and typology reports need to feature in the compliance programme of respondent banks, irrespective of jurisdiction.

The need for training is perhaps even more in financial intelligence bodies and banking regulatory compliance and supervisory agencies to defend society against malpractices in respondent banks, as they have to be aware of all the complexities of global correspondent banking.

It is evident financial risk management is a critical function today’s budding managers need to acclimatise themselves with in order to sustain and grow in the highly volatile international trade and business environments.

Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd. – 70 Years – Famine to Food

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Bengal Famine to Right Food – An insightful journey towards food security

Famines were quite frequent in the colonial rule because of the indifference of the British India government towards the plight of the starving people of undivided Bengal. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the great crisis that hit the golden land of Bengal. The estimated deaths were 1.5 to 3 million children, women and men during 1942-43. It is estimated deaths due to starvation in the colonial rule was 30 to 40 million especially in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Bengal. The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal province of pre-partition British India during World War II following the Japanese occupation of Burma. It has been argued that the Japanese invasion of Burma was the main cause of the Bengal Famine of 1943, since it cut off all food supplies from the region. A constellation of factors led to this mega-tragedy, such as the Japanese occupation of Burma, the damage to the aman (kharif) rice crop both due to tidal waves and a disease epidemic caused by the fungus Helminthosporium oryzae, panic purchase and hoarding by the rich, failure of governance, particularly in relation to the equitable distribution of the available food grains and disruption of communication due to World War II.

Estimates are that between 1.5 and 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal’s 60.3 million population, half of them dying from disease after food became available in December 1943. As in previous Bengal famines, the highest mortality was not in previously very poor groups, but among artisans and small traders whose income vanished when people spent all they had on food and did not employ cobblers, carpenters, etc.

At that time people who were studying in colleges were discussing various ways to develop the nation and combat the current situation. Seventy years now the country misses the spark in the youth who may come up with protests but lack the intellect to provide a solution which makes our great nation food secure. Even our politicians who believe the Right to Food as a game changer in the 2014 General Elections wants to rush into this. No doubt this is a good initiative by the current UPA government but it also adds up to the rising fiscal deficit which the reforms from Prime Minister’s Office can’t decrease. 70 years on we are still not food sufficient still people are dying because of extreme hunger and poverty estimating up to 2 lakh per year. It seems the great economists of the country are on a long holiday or may be their ideas are out of stock.

What’s more shocking is that being an agrarian economy with majority of the population engaged in agricultural activities still no youngster is willing to become a farmer. The country has dramatically failed to understand the importance of farming. There is no remuneration and the richest people in the country are not the people who provide you with food to survive. The biggest corporations in the country are not an agro-based company. Every day we keep hearing farmers committing suicides. In this scenario the government wants the Right to Food bill to pass without realizing or providing any protection to the farmers. If anyone wants to become a farmer the society, parents look down to the idea, they play a prime role in discouraging their wish. But they are not wrong when they do that they do it because the remuneration of a Investment Banker or Doctor or Engineer is way higher than that of a farmer who after working hard to provide food (energy) to these Engineers or Doctors or Investment Bankers to work or survive lives in less than $1.25 a day. The youth of the nation doesn’t ask the government of India why is the situation so gruesome at ground level.

The Right to Food bill may provide food to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population but it doesn’t do anything to improve the status of the farmers. There are many reasons to debate this bill but the government of the country is always interested in providing freebies before every election in the country. 70 years on the situation remains critical because policy makers have not done enough to eradicate poverty out of the lives of the people who are responsible for making this country food secure.

For more information visit: Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd.

The Divine Technology To Eliminate Your Financial Troubles

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While the human society is at the crossroads, besieged with financial, health and relationship problems, Dr.Pillai (Baba), has revealed to humanity the ancient Vedic secret Mantra, Thiru Neela Kantam, to eliminate all the ill effects of bad karma and make life fulfilling and complete.

Our Money Karma or financial Karma determines our financial state. Sometimes some of us have a bad Money Karma and suffer financially due its ill effects. The same is the case with health or relationships or any other aspect of our life.

Our Karma decides what we go through. But suffering does not remove our bad Karma. Dr.Pillai, has revealed a divine technology in which the chanting of the Mantra, Thiru Neela Kantam eliminates bad Karma and makes us lead happy lives.

Dr.Pillai has discussed in detail about the importance of sound for learning and the elevation of the human mind and its thought processes. Dr.Pillai has identified the ancient Vedic Mantra of Thiru Neela Kantam as the right Mantra with the right quantum sound frequency to alleviate people of their bad Karma.

Dr.Pillai has advocated that Thiru Neela Kantam, (pronounced, TEE-ru NEE-la KAN-tum), should be chanted during Pradosham time. Pradosham is the time which marks the end of day light and the beginning of night every day. Monthly Pradoshams fall on the 13th day of the waxing / waning of the Moon. Pradoshams offer the best opportunity to eliminate Karma. One has to visualize blue light while chanting this Mantra. The effect will be stunning if it is chanted 108 times. The powerful vibrations created by the quantum sounds of the Mantra reverberate through our minds to make it attain higher levels. Our bad Karma will be busted and all our aspirations will be fulfilled.

When most of the world is going through a financial crisis, a lot of us have prayers for money. We need not suppress our monetary requirements. We can use this amazing divine technology, unveiled by Dr.Pillai, use the Vedic Mantra, Thiru Neela Kantam and lead a wealthy, healthy and happy life.

Post-graduate Financial Planning Programs In Canada

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Financial planning could be a rewarding career path for you, if you are good with numbers and people. You do for people what they don’t like or are unable to do for themselves. You figure out how to manage their money and plan for future. You help them get on the right track, as far as their finances are concerned.

Financial planning is expected to be one of the fastest growing professions in the coming years. Increase in the existing positions as well as emergence of additional new positions is expected in the next decade. While baby booming generation plans to retire itself, the demand for financial advisory services will see a boom. At the same time, development of new and more advanced financial plans and advancements in online financial advisory tools also has strong impact on the demand for financial planners. Therefore, it is an exciting time to build careers in financial advising and planning.

Prerequisites of Becoming a Financial Advisor in Canada

In order to work as a financial advisor, it’s important to

Have an in-depth understanding of financial planning principles and industry standards

Possess excellent business development and marketing skills to gain new clients

Be capable of recognizing potential tax and legal implications within a financial planning situation

Be able to compare and contrast various available financial investment plans

Know how to prepare accurate and relevant financial plans, both manually and electronically

A graduate-level financial planning certification can help you gain the knowledge and skills required to seek employment in this field. The one-year program provides you with strong grounding in tax planning, estate planning and risk management, retirement financial planning, marketing, financial management, corporate credit management, ethics and stakeholder management and crafting and executing strategy.

The program graduates can work with credit unions, life insurance companies, banks, investment dealers, financial planning companies and mutual fund companies, in the areas of tax planning, financial product development, estate planning, credit management or strategy.

Enrolling in a Financial Planning Program

As this is a graduate certification course, you must have completed your graduation for being eligible to apply to this program. You can send your application to the college, supported with a copy of three-year college diploma or university degree certificate and a proof of English proficiency.

Even if you have a two-year college diploma or completed a partial university degree, you can still apply to this program. However, you will need to have a minimum two years of work experience relevant to the program. You may also need to take a numeracy skill assessment.

Studying Financial Planning in Canada

Numerous Canadian colleges offer graduate-level financial planning programs. But Centennial College Toronto offers additional benefits to its students. The program:

The program uses instruction materials from professional bodies

It provides you with the education requirements to write the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exam

It allows you to apply your academic rewards towards further studies at the university.

The course is delivered by highly qualified and experience faculty members.

The program is worth considering, as it helps you meet all your specific career goals.

The Bankruptcy Lawyer and Your Financial Future

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If you find yourself in money trouble, and are not sure what you can do to get back on your feet, you may want to consider hiring a bankruptcy lawyer. Financial problems cause enough stress that you don’t need added mistakes in court to your personal nightmare. A good one will be able to come up with all the paper work you need to have a successful case, and get your life back on track. There are several things to look for when looking for an attorney to represent you.

One of the things you need to look for is a bankruptcy lawyer who does only that. This will insure that he has the necessary experience to research your case, and make sure he has what you need to win. A great way to know that you have a reputable one, is that he is certified by the American Board of Certification, as many of them are not.

Another thing you need to do is know what the pros and cons are of the different firms. You can go with a larger firm, and possibly have many different attorneys to choose from, possibly with more experience. You could also have the option of a smaller firm, where your case might receive more attention, but may rely more on paralegals to help. Either way, your lawyer will be easy, so your case will take some time.

Next, you could contact your state’s bar association to find a list of attorneys that practice in your area. They will also know about any complaints that have arisen against any of them. That may be a simpler way to find a new one to assist you.

Fourthly, you can contact the bankruptcy court in your area, and inquire about a list of lawyers that are practicing. These courts will often give referrals to help customers, not necessarily as an endorsement. It will usually come with information packets from each firm that includes something about the attorney, the process, and how much it costs.

Finally, you should make appointments with some that you have gotten referrals to. Each first consultation with a bankruptcy attorney is usually free, and will help you see if you would benefit from the service. You can also get an idea of how experienced each is, how organized his office is, and how busy he is, so that you will have an idea of how your case will be handled.

Keep in mind, however, that bankruptcy should be a last resort option, and there are costs to it, including court costs and attorney fees, and that there are consequences, such as a loss of buying power and credit. So, after a consultation with an attorney, if you decide that is the way you need to go to remove your high debt, then make sure you have one with a good reputation of following your case from start to finish, and getting you the best results.