Risks & Rules AGENCY ACTIONS SAFETY & SOUNDNESS COMPLIANCE COMPLIANCE CORNER Dirty money Criminals view community banks as easier targets for their moneylaundering activities. What are the warning signs, and how can community banks protect themselves? By Karen Epper Hoffman T here is no shortage of crooks using their legitimate bank to launder cash earned from illegal pursuits. According to PwC, money-laundering transactions account for an estimated $1 trillion to $2 trillion, or 2 to 5 percent, of global GDP every year. Community banks are a preferred transaction channel for money launderers due to their smaller size and limited fraud-detection budgets, and a perception that their employees are less adept at spotting suspicious activity. " The biggest challenge is in the monitoring for Bank Secrecy Act [BSA] and anti-money-laundering [AML] activity, " says Chris Cook, executive vice president for Farmers Bank & Trust, based in Marion, Ky. He notes that his $185 million-asset institution lacks the same compliance budget and staff of larger banks. " A larger bank can just independentbanker.org ICBA IndependentBanker 67 PHOTO: L UCIDIO STUDIO INC/GETTY IMAGEShttp://www.qmags.com/clickthrough.asp?url=www.independentbanker.org&id=20402&adid=P67E1