J. Edward “Ned” Conway became Executive Secretary of the Wolfsberg Group on 1 November 2024, succeeding Alan Ketley. With its 12 member banks, the Wolfsberg Group is a globally respected source of expertise on financial crime risk management, setting industry standards and building bridges between financial institutions and other stakeholders. The Basel Institute serves as Secretariat to the Group, which is now in its 25th year.

This article is adapted from the 2024 Basel AML Index public report.

This article is adapted from the 2024 Basel AML Index public report. 

Sound like someone you know?

The 84-year-old who lost his life savings after receiving a panicked call from someone who sounded exactly like his granddaughter, saying she was in jail for drug possession and needed USD 10,000 for bail...

The 13th Public Edition of the Basel AML Index highlights a gradual improvement in national systems to counter money laundering – at least in terms of technical compliance with global standards, and among countries with long-standing weaknesses. But the effectiveness of anti-money laundering systems in practice remains alarmingly low in the face of evolving threats from fraud and other complex, often transnational financial crimes.

The Basel AML Index – the Basel Institute’s ranking and risk assessment tool for money laundering risks around the world – will include indicators of fraud in its 2024 methodology update.

The changes reflect the growing significance of fraud as a predicate offence to money laundering and as a risk that regulated entities need to consider. Though definitions of fraud vary and data is both poor and inconsistent, the social and economic consequences of fraud make it impossible to ignore in any money laundering risk assessment.