In the photo, taken March 31, 2020, a Bank of Korea (BOK) official is seen inspecting U.S. banknotes. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has completed measures designed to upgrade its money laundering prevention system.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a special unit that operates under the umbrella of the Financial Services Commission, said Thursday it had started the operation of a next-generation money laundering prevention system.
The unit’s money laundering prevention system is designed to analyze the information on financial transactions reported by financial institutions and then provide the results of the analysis to law enforcement agencies.
The money laundering prevention system was first introduced in 2002. Despite rapid growth in the amount of information thereafter, the system has remained unchanged, facing increasing difficulty in processing the information on time.
Against this backdrop, the FIU spent about 20 billion won (US$18.2 million) to establish a next-generation system that led to a tripling of the number of suspicious transaction reports, with a more than fivefold increase in processing capacity.
The unit’s ability to analyze and review money laundering crimes was also strengthened thanks to the use of machine learning techniques.
The FIU also expanded the type of administrative data needed for money laundering analysis and review, while shortening the data collection time from more than 10 days to less than one day through direct connection with the systems of administration agencies.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
