Co‐designing compliance to the Anti‐Money Laundering Act within the small and medium enterprise sector

Abstract

PurposeMoney laundering is a financial crime that does not directly affect a business but poses a serious threat to a nation's stability and security. The Australian Anti‐money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act (AML/CTF Act – the Act) passed into law in 2006, but achieving compliance is proving a daunting task, especially within the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector. This paper aims to propose a co‐designed communication strategy, which if adopted by the Australian regulator, AUSTRAC, could improve communication and education about the Act within this sector.Design/methodology/approachA literature review is done to understand the complexities of the Act and its compliance regime, especially with regards to SME. By establishing the importance of SME to a country's economy, as well as the need for AUSTRAC to understand their limitations, this paper uses the concepts of design in communication, and the importance of involving stakeholders in designing solutions, to develop a communication strategy.FindingsIt is clear that the current compliance regime is not very successful, and a better communication strategy would achieve better education among the SME sector and could result in better compliance indices.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is based on the available literature including journals, white papers and the AUSTRAC website and did not involve in‐person communication or contact with either the stakeholders or AUSTRAC.Originality/valueThis paper is first of its kind to propose the use of “design” in order to improve the AML/CTF compliance indices.