70% of compliance professionals fear the growing threat of cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.

New data shows that a large majority of compliance professionals are worried about the crypto-currency related money laundering.

The survey, which gathered responses from 250 UK business leaders and individuals working in compliance, found that 70% of individuals working in compliance are worried about the growing threat of money laundering via cryptocurrencies in business. Perhaps even more alarmingly, 53% believe that current practices only partially address this threat.

First AML, the anti-money laundering startup, undertook the survey, also revealed that 41% of companies have identified instances of money laundering related to cryptocurrencies; and 78% of business leaders believe their company’s AML compliance can be improved.

Bion Behdin, Chief Revenue Officer at First AML, said: "The emergence of cryptocurrency-related money laundering presents significant challenges for businesses attempting to combat financial crime. It is clear that current practices only partially address this threat, and that keeping pace with evolving money laundering techniques presents a significant challenge. Businesses need to find effective ways of staying up to date with regulatory guidance, and continue to develop new processes to stay compliant."

According to the data, keeping pace with evolving money laundering techniques (30%) is the most significant challenge when combatting cryptocurrency-related money laundering. Additional challenges found in the survey include difficulty in identifying and tracking suspicious actors (27%) and a lack of clear regulatory guidance (17%).

A total of 51% of businesses have experienced fines or penalties due to AML non-compliance, and 85% of those businesses report that these penalties had a negative impact on their operations.