EMEA AML Survey 2024

When it comes to the fight against financial crime, technological progress is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it boosts crime prevention and detection capabilities, but on the other, it also bolsters bad actors’ arsenals. We are seeing financial criminals become increasingly sophisticated; efforts to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (abbreviated as ‘AML’ in this report) must rise to the challenge.

The EMEA AML Survey 2024

Although technology can be a great catalyst for progress in AML capabilities, respondents have consistently mentioned that finding qualified AML professionals that can implement new technologies is extremely difficult. This is quite a remarkable finding, since most, if not all, recent business trends involve some form of technological hype. Obviously, technology is also a key issue for our respondents, but they consider the shortage of qualified people as a major stumbling block to AML progress despite all the great opportunities technology and AI can offer; this tends to be underestimated in public discourse.

Our respondents are divided into nine major regions and three industries within the financial sector. Ov​er half (52%) of respondents are banks, which have historically been the focus of AML regulations and are more used to being in the spotlight of AML news and events. Our Banks respondents also include 52% of all Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) and 59% of Global Systemically Important Institutions (G-SIIs). Asset managers represent 26% of respondents, while payment institutions make up a further 22%.

Respondents are split on regulatory effectiveness. In the EMEA region as a whole, 53% of respondents believe that current or upcoming AML regulations are helpful. Among those who do not, they tend to think the rules lack uniformity across countries and industries (18%), that there is a lack of practical industry guidance (12%), that the rules favour form over substance (8%) or that the rules are not sufficiently detailed (6%).

Among the numerous AML-related challenges faced by EMEA financial institutions, the increase in regulatory pressure came to the forefront, with over one-third of respondents (38%) citing it as the most challenging issue, while 34% also highlighted how regulations complicated operational processes.

Do you think that the current AML rules are helpful to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, or are they too far removed from operational reality?

^{Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Source: PwC Global AWM & ESG Research Centre}

While all regions are considering implementing AI solutions to their AML operations, financial institutions in the Nordics (94%), Africa (93%) and the Middle East (93%)  are the most enthusiastic. Transaction monitoring and screening are the main AML functions respondents are planning to use AI for, highlighted by 79% and 59% of respondents, respectively. However, adopting AI solutions is not all smooth sailing. Over half of respondents (55%) are concerned that the maturity of their AML processes is a constraint to AI adoption, while 52% are concerned about data-sharing with external providers.

What percentage of your AML budget do you expect you will invest in digital tools in the next 24 months?