New report from the Swedish Police Authority on exposed areas and money laundering

In December 2022, the Swedish Police Authority published the report “Exposed areas and Money Laundering”.

Exposed areas are defined as local communities that are affected by organized crime. The connection between exposed areas and the occurrence of money laundering are tangible and are often related to the frequent use of cash. Suspicious activity reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is often related to cash that can be linked to serious organized crime.

An interesting observation in the report is that cash withdrawal is more common among young people in exposed areas. This differs to the general development in the rest of the country, however, is well in line with the drug dealing in these areas.

The report also highlights how companies are used as tools for organized crime. It is through companies you, for example, are able to receive large payments from the welfare system, make shady tax transactions and handle cash in fraudulent ways. 

A large number of money laundering crimes are performed through companies. Despite this, only a small proportion are reported to the FIU. This is something that needs to change if larger crimes are to be stopped.

How can regulated companies report suspicious money laundering to a larger extent and how can they more effectively locate the culprits? 

To better detect criminal activities, you need to have an effective system used for risk assessment of your customers. The system needs to also be able to monitor transactions and control company information, both of which assists in the discovery of suspicious activity. 

A regulated business needs to follow specific rules. This includes controlling a company’s board members, beneficial owner, PEP and sanctions, the owner structure, address (e.g. is the company situated in an exposed area), financial information and legal information about the controlled company and the persons behind that company.

Keeping track of all this information can be a daunting task as it demands a lot of time-consuming manual work. This is why it is helpful to have a system that automatically updates changes on an ongoing basis.

Roaring’s services can help you with this. 

Together we can make a huge difference in preventing crime that we see in society today!

Check out more about the report and view the full report here.