Asia is the region currently experiencing the greatest increase in money laundering risk and trade finance is the next major area of expected regulatory focus, according to a survey of compliance officers by US risk and compliance specialist Fortent. The survey cited Asia as region leading growth in money laundering risk. Among respondents at institutions with global operations, 30 per cent identified Asia as the region experiencing the biggest increase in AML risk. Trade finance and beneficial ownership were also identified as the top areas of expected regulatory interest over the next five years, with Asia, again, and the Middle East cited as areas of particular concern for trade finance. "The information generated from a diverse group of global financial institutions clearly demonstrates that there are significant concerns - not the least of which is that more than 60 per cent of respondents expect criminal activity to increase," said George Faux, Fortent's head of client relationship management. "This expectation, coupled with their observations about money laundering's growth in Asia, means that banks need to ensure that they have effective and efficient anti-money laundering programmes in place - in all regions of their operations and across lines of business." Private banking and electronic "cash" systems are seen as increasingly "hot" areas to watch over the next three years, as smart cards, debit cards, and online value transfer systems make a greater impact on the economy. Fortent found 71 per cent of respondents cited retail banking as the line of business most sensitive to money laundering risk and nearly two-thirds of respondents expected attempts at criminal activity to increase over the next year due to the economic slowdown. "With the positive benefits of economic expansion and trade come the negative aspects of increased fraud and money laundering. We need to be inventive, determined, and proactive if we're going to identify and investigate suspicious activity tied to finance in these areas," said Jim Richards, Wells Fargo's top compliance officer, who participated in the survey. Senior executives from 21 global, national, and regional financial institutions, with asset size ranging from $25 billion to more than $1 trillion participated in the survey. Based in New York with eight offices located around the world, Fortent supplies compliance technology to leading large and mid-sized financial firms including The Bank of New York, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Lloyds TSB, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Scotiabank, Societe Generale and UBS.