Financial Crimes Risk Management

Illicit financial activities inflict real and profound consequences, far from being victimless crimes. Examples include corruption that strips societies of crucial resources for medical care and education, financing of arms that leads to conflict-driven deaths and displacement of communities, funding organised crime, fueling drug trafficking, human exploitation, and much more. The distance between the commission of these crimes and their ultimate impact often obscures the true and pervasive consequences on societies worldwide.

At PwC, we provide cutting-edge strategies, including expertise in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT), Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF), Fraud Management, to assist our clients and society in grappling with these critical problems.

Our expertise and a global network enables us to lead the way in integrated, risk-based, and technology-enabled approaches to combat financial crimes. We provide unparalleled support, helping you mitigate risks and stay compliant with the ever-evolving regulatory landscape.

We understand the importance of strategies that not only meet industry standards but exceed them. Our tailored approach seamlessly merges innovation and efficiency to deliver robust, distinctive, and future-ready solutions, meticulously crafted to protect your organisation from illicit financial activities.

How we assist clients

At PwC, we understand that financial crime poses significant challenges to organisations across the East Africa region. Our dedicated Financial Crimes Team has consistently supported clients in overcoming the complexities of money laundering, terrorism financing, fraud and other financial crimes through innovative solutions.

Some of the common that we have seen our clients in the region face include:

Focus on just compliance instead of effective risk management.
Improper organisational culture
Lack of awareness, both internal and external
Ineffective systems leading to large false positives
Balancing customer experience with financial crimes risk management
Evolving regulatory expectations
Embedding sustainability in financial crimes risk management

Through our work, we have impacted our clients in the following ways

Better understanding of risks
Implementation of effective Financial Crimes Programs
Enhancement of Financial Crimes Programs Effectiveness
Implementing Fit-for-Purpose Financial Crimes Technologies
Heightened awareness by Boards, Senior Management, and Staff
Building a stronger regulatory framework

Better understanding of risks

We have helped several organisations understand their key risks, prevailing typologies and how they present themselves. By embedding the outcomes of our risk assessments into their Financial Crime Programs, our clients have significantly improved their risk management frameworks.

Implementation of effective Financial Crimes Programs

Our team has successfully drafted and reviewed policies, procedures, and operating manuals for clients, operationalizing their programs including establishing robust reporting frameworks. This has resulted in more effective and compliant financial crime prevention strategies.

Enhancement of Financial Crimes Programs Effectiveness

We have supported our clients in assessing the technical compliance and effectiveness assessments of their programs. By benchmarking against leading practices and peers, we have enhanced the maturity of our clients' Financial Crimes programs, leading to stronger defences against financial crimes.

Implementing Fit-for-Purpose Financial Crimes Technologies

We have supported our clients in selecting, implementing, and optimising financial crime technologies. These include transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, KYC, and fraud detection systems. This has contributed to the reduction of false positives and addressed common implementation challenges, such as data preparedness and local customization.

Heightened awareness by Boards, Senior Management, and Staff

We have provided extensive financial crimes trainings touching on recent risk trends, regulatory obligations, effective financial crimes risk management, role of the Board and Senior Management as well as embedding sustainability in the financial crimes programs. Our training sessions for Boards, Senior Management, and Staff have heightened awareness and understanding, leading to more effective risk management practices across our clients' organisations.

Building a stronger regulatory framework

We have supported regulators across the East Africa region in assessing the technical compliance and effectiveness of regulated entities, including financial institutions. Our recommendations have highlighted areas for improving the regulatory framework to make compliance more manageable for these institutions. This collaborative effort has led to enhanced compliance levels and a stronger regulatory framework.