About 64% of Australian finance and professional services businesses expect financial crime to increase this year, a new report from risk advisory group Kroll says.  

The figure is slightly lower than in other regions: 71% of global survey respondents expect a rise, and in Asia-Pacific the proportion is 82%.  

Among global firms, cybersecurity risks and data breaches are considered the main drivers of an increase. Australian businesses point to artificial intelligence concerns.  

Only 24% of Australian respondents view AI and machine learning as having a “very positive impact” on their financial crime compliance frameworks.  

And just 16% say their organisations’ compliance programs are “very effective”.  

Lack of technology is among the major safety concerns, with only 28% strongly agreeing their organisation is well placed.  

Another prominent risk is cryptocurrencies: 52% feel moderate to significant concern about the issue this year; 24% of Australians surveyed plan to implement programs combating the threat of cryptocurrencies. 

Kroll Australia and New Zealand investigations head Gary Gill says key technology developments over the past year have helped dictate Australia’s risk perception.  

“Firstly, we saw financial institutions increasingly use AI and machine learning to enhance their transaction monitoring systems, to improve their detection of financial crime activities and reduce false positives,” Mr Gill said. “In addition, we saw cybercrime continue to increase, with AI-driven phishing attacks being used to deceive victims.

“These developments highlight the dual-edged nature of technology in the realm of financial crime, as they offer both new tools for prevention/detection [and] new avenues for criminal activity.”  

See Kroll’s report here.