The impact of the portuguese culture in the prevention and detection phases of money laundering crimes

Abstract

Every day, millions of financial transactions take place around the world. These transactions are the cornerstone of the world’s economy. However, crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing threaten the stability of the financial system. Financial Intelligence Units and subject entities work every day to fight these problems. With this in mind, this dissertation was developed as a consultancy thesis for a Portuguese financial institution and it investigates how Hofstede’s (1983) cultural dimensions influence the effectiveness in detecting money laundering and terrorist financing in the compliance department of the organization. From the studies conducted, it was possible to infer that three of the six dimensions proposed by Hofstede (Individualism vs Collectivism, Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance), have an impact on prevention and detection of money laundering and terrorist financing crimes, in that department. Taking the above mentioned into consideration, the first suggestion is the continuation of the effort to create measures that support communication, within the compliance department. Secondly, a new role in the compliance department can be created. This new job would have the responsibility of analysing possible flaws with the mechanisms and new ways that criminals can use to achieve their ends. Finally, the creation of a new entity with the purpose of regulation and managing the compliance profession will be suggested.

Date of Award	17 Feb 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Tommaso Ramus (Supervisor)