MLRO is the short name for Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Sometimes they are also referred to as Anti Money Laundering Officers. They are Certified Anti Money Laundering Experts who are designated to fight financial crimes.
For any Financial Institution across the globe, Anti Money Laundering Officer is one of the key individuals. His presence and inputs are extremely important to monitor and stop financial crimes and money laundering activities.
Role of AMLRO
AML officer’s role depends on the AML team size but in general, the AML officer’s duty revolves around these tasks:
- Understanding the exact mechanism and process of monetary transactions taking place in the financial Institution. He can be a part of the team for improving internal KYC procedures. It helps to gather more detailed knowledge about the customers.
- Financial Institutions are becoming serious about AML compliance. They are building teams to combat financial crimes. Giving proper guidance to other AML team members and making them understand the actual monitoring standards and parameters to detect fraudulent activities. He has to make sure that all AML procedures are followed as per the general standards set by the financial institution and the regulators.
- Instructing the money laundering monitoring team to keep a close watch on suspicious or unusual transactions and implementing accurate steps before taking the matter for further investigation. It is all about accuracy and investigating the risks and alerts generated through a system. He has to review all the relevant reports.
- Getting in touch with the Customer Due Diligence team. When there is suspicion about a transaction then getting more information about that customer is the task of the team. Additional information relates to their past monetary transactions, banking history, etc. AMLRO has the power to request the bank to conduct Enhanced Due Diligence on any customer. This helps him to get things more clear before making a decision.
- If a system is getting outdated, the AML officer can request a replacement of the same. He can also opt for more advanced applications and solutions.
- Documenting all those fraudulent cases presents a strong justification that something unusual and fraudulent has taken place.
- He is an essential part of the team during the auditing process.
- Conduct periodic training on anti-money laundering policies and procedures.
