What is Anti-Money Laundering (AML)?
Anti-money laundering is the framework of laws and procedures designed to prevent criminals from disguising illicit funds as legitimate business income. It covers customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, suspicious-activity reporting, and record keeping.
How It Works
- Know Your Customer (KYC): verify identity and source of funds before onboarding
- Transaction monitoring: flag patterns that don’t fit the customer’s profile
- Sanctions screening: block dealings with sanctioned individuals and entities
- Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) filed with the Financial Intelligence Unit
- Applies to banks, exchanges, real-estate agents, lawyers, auditors, and large dealers in cash
Saudi Context
In Saudi Arabia, the AML Law and SAMA regulations require financial institutions and DNFBPs (designated non-financial businesses) to run AML programs. The Saudi Financial Intelligence Unit (SAFIU) receives STRs; non-compliance carries fines and license revocation.
Example
A Saudi exchange company notices a customer making frequent SAR 50,000 cash deposits split across branches — a pattern called structuring. The compliance officer files a Suspicious Transaction Report with SAFIU and freezes the account pending investigation.