Enhancing anti-money laundering and financial access: Can new technology achieve both?

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on those global standards that apply to cross-border payments. Global financial standards have a large impact on cross-border payments as the challenges regarding interpretation and application of international standards at a national level are amplified by the number of jurisdictions affected. Navigating differing regulatory views and capabilities across jurisdictions is a costly and uncertain venture, confining it to the largest FinTech providers with sufficient funds to negotiate national complexities jurisdiction by jurisdiction. As a result, this is an area where coordinated global action could be especially beneficial. In particular, by encouraging global coordination and appropriate adoption of new technologies, modernized global financial standards could make a substantial contribution to resolving the challenges that currently beset the global remittance market. Apart from being a particularly challenging market, the socio-economic importance of the remittance market also strengthens its bid for priority attention. Remittances represent a key financial service for the growing migrant, refugee, and transnational community who rely on them to remit funds back to their loved ones in their country of origin. Indeed, the G20, the IMF and others working on financial policy have identified remittances as one of the best potential areas of focus for financial inclusion efforts.