Both the "As” – AI and AML
It was great to be able to speak to our license holders and learners in person while we were exhibiting at Accountex last week, and from the conversations we were having, two key topics were often mentioned: AI and AML. What content did we have on these subject areas? What would we be covering in the future? Do we cover the tools to be able to comply with anti-money laundering regulations? How can AI be integrated into the finance function, or accountancy practice?
AI
AI is ubiquitious at the moment. And the key point that we all seem to come back to is how AI can free up valuable time for professionals to focus on more impactful work and to focus on the opportunities rather than the fear factor. A new research report from Arizent, parent company of Accounting Today, examines the unfolding role of AI and its impact on the accounting profession. The research showed that even though most accountants expect AI to change their jobs, shift client expectations and drive new opportunities, the majority are not using AI currently and don't have plans to do so in the immediate future.
As accountants we are still in the early stages of finding out how to make good use of AI, and according to the report, almost three-quarters (70%) of respondents believe that it will have a profoundly positive impact on our jobs, changing the type of work we do and even creating jobs.
The report suggests that to move forward with AI, as accountants we need to:
- Educate ourselves on the nature of AI and how it works
- Investigate use of AI at our own practices/businesses that we can be comfortable with
- Understand how our clients are using AI
- Learn how to integrate AI into existing technology and interface with clients using AI
- Advocate for the development of international standards and regulatory oversight
We are still in the early phases of increasing awareness with this topic, understanding how it can support us in our roles as accountants, and how we can start to think about integrating it in a useful way into our organisations.
AML
As accountants we need to comply with rules and regulations, and that doesn’t just mean understanding the latest accounting standards, but it also means areas of compliance such as financial crime compliance. At Accountex we were asked whether our compliance suite of courses covers anti-money laundering, which of course it does, but license holders and learners were also keen to explore with us why this has become such a hot topic over the past couple of years.
Fraud has been becoming increasingly widespread, and recently UK Finance released its 2024 annual fraud report that detailed the amount its members reported as stolen through payment fraud and scams in 2023. "Over the past year, banks have seen a continued uptick in innovative digital tactics used by fraudsters. AI, in particular, is starting to make it harder for consumers to identify when fraud is happening,” said Ignatius Adjei, UK Financial Services Head of Anti-Fraud Services, KPMG UK. "For example, AI-generated images and deep fake video technology are being used as part of romance and ‘get rich quick’ investment scams to persuade people to part with their money. Mobile banking fraud has also soared as a result of fraudsters taking advantage of the growing number of people enjoying the convenience of banking apps.” So the link between AI and AML is apparent here.
The key points of the report stated that:
- Criminals stole £1.17 billion through unauthorised and authorised fraud in 2023, a 4% decrease compared to 2022.
- Banks prevented a further £1.25 billion of unauthorised fraud through advanced security systems.
- 76% of APP fraud started online and 16% cent started through telecommunications networks.
- The financial services sector is at the forefront of efforts to protect customers from fraud, including partnering with other sectors, government and law enforcement to prevent and disrupt this criminal activity and bring perpetrators to justice.
As accountants we need to be very clear on the rules and regulations involved in anti-money laundering compliance. And ensure we thoroughly explore the kind of in-depth customer due diligence necessary to mitigate the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Just highlighting here two of the key buzz topics that our license holders and learners were talking about with us at our stand at Accountex. We did make our way through the alphabet with other subject matter, but it was apparent that AI and AML were two of the key things that accountants were keen to find out more about.
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