Tackling financial crimes
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Munira Hossein
A neglected area of law enforcement remains financial crimes. The police can barely tackle the crimes. They are underequipped and lack the training and specialised knowledge to investigate financial crimes. Even the simple financial crimes require special training and aptitude the police now lack. The complex financial crimes call for specialist knowledge and training, way beyond the country's police.
A special squad of the police can be formed to deal exclusively with such crimes. They need systematic training, to improve their know-how and skills to investigate financial crimes. A well trained special police squad should be able to investigate sophisticated cases of financial crimes like stock market manipulations, share scams and money laundering.
However, one must understand the nature of such 'crimes' so that no one become an unnecessary victims of circumstances or situations. The practical realities of all related transactions do need to be appreciated in earnest by all concerned so that genuine or matter-of-reality deals are not considered 'manipulations', 'scams' or 'laundering'. The laws, framed in the light of the given socio-economic realities, have to be practical for the purpose and do also call for application with equal prudence.
Meanwhile, financial crimes call for efficient institutional vigilance. Banks and other financial institutions need to streamline their operating systems so that none can take a free ride on their resources. The bank management, from the top level, need to tighten security measures so that none can attempt to pilfer banks' resources.
Many government bodies seem to be in disarray in respect of rationalising expenditures or devising proper accounting procedures to stop serious financial crimes causing waste and theft of resources. Better institutional capabilities are needed to watch expenditures and audit them to check financial crimes.
The central bank and other relevant bodies need to enforce the law against the offending private organisations, NGOs, charitable bodies and the cooperatives societies, which operate like banks without approval, do often allegedly defraud their clients. There is an urgent need to crackdown against the fraudulent organisations.
A neglected area of law enforcement remains financial crimes. The police can barely tackle the crimes. They are underequipped and lack the training and specialised knowledge to investigate financial crimes. Even the simple financial crimes require special training and aptitude the police now lack. The complex financial crimes call for specialist knowledge and training, way beyond the country's police.
A special squad of the police can be formed to deal exclusively with such crimes. They need systematic training, to improve their know-how and skills to investigate financial crimes. A well trained special police squad should be able to investigate sophisticated cases of financial crimes like stock market manipulations, share scams and money laundering.
However, one must understand the nature of such 'crimes' so that no one become an unnecessary victims of circumstances or situations. The practical realities of all related transactions do need to be appreciated in earnest by all concerned so that genuine or matter-of-reality deals are not considered 'manipulations', 'scams' or 'laundering'. The laws, framed in the light of the given socio-economic realities, have to be practical for the purpose and do also call for application with equal prudence.
Meanwhile, financial crimes call for efficient institutional vigilance. Banks and other financial institutions need to streamline their operating systems so that none can take a free ride on their resources. The bank management, from the top level, need to tighten security measures so that none can attempt to pilfer banks' resources.
Many government bodies seem to be in disarray in respect of rationalising expenditures or devising proper accounting procedures to stop serious financial crimes causing waste and theft of resources. Better institutional capabilities are needed to watch expenditures and audit them to check financial crimes.
The central bank and other relevant bodies need to enforce the law against the offending private organisations, NGOs, charitable bodies and the cooperatives societies, which operate like banks without approval, do often allegedly defraud their clients. There is an urgent need to crackdown against the fraudulent organisations.