Economic crime review

Overview

The economic crime landscape affecting accountants is becoming increasingly complex and technology-driven. Fraud, money laundering, cyber-enabled offending, sanctions evasion, artificial intelligence, Crypto-assets and enhanced regulatory expectations are reshaping the risks faced by finance professionals, advisers and accountancy firms. This webinar will explore the principal economic crime threats likely to affect accountants during 2026–2027, examining how organised crime, geopolitical instability, digital transformation and regulatory reform are influencing professional practice. The session will combine strategic awareness, regulatory insight and practical risk management approaches applicable across accounting, audit, tax, advisory, compliance and finance functions.

Key Areas to be Covered

The economic crime outlook for accountants in 2026–2027

• Global and UK economic crime threat environment
• Drivers of change including technology, geopolitics and regulation
• The evolving role of accountants as gatekeepers and risk managers

Emerging fraud threats, including cyber-enabled and AI-assisted fraud

• Business email compromise, payment diversion and impersonation fraud
• AI-enabled deception, deepfakes and synthetic identities
• Fraud risks affecting finance, payroll, procurement and advisory functions

Money laundering trends, beneficial ownership concealment and professional enabler risks

• Use of complex corporate structures, trusts and shell entities
• Beneficial ownership opacity and source-of-wealth challenges
• Professional facilitation risks affecting accountants and advisers

Crypto-assets, digital finance and emerging financial crime exposure

• Cryptocurrency-related fraud and money laundering typologies
• Crypto-assets in sanctions evasion and cybercrime ecosystems
• Due diligence, tracing and reporting challenges for accounting professionals

Sanctions evasion, geopolitical risk and cross-border compliance challenges

• Emerging sanctions risks linked to conflict, state actors and global instability
• Hidden ownership, intermediary arrangements and sanctions circumvention methods
• Practical implications for client onboarding, advisory work and transactions

Regulatory developments, AML reform and enforcement expectations

• Emerging UK and international AML developments
• Changes in supervisory and enforcement expectations affecting accountants
• Increasing emphasis on effectiveness, governance and demonstrable compliance

Organised crime methodologies affecting businesses and professional services

• Organised crime infiltration of legitimate business environments
• Financial crime convergence involving fraud, laundering and cybercrime
• Criminal exploitation of professional services and commercial systems

Practical warning signs, red flags and enhanced due diligence considerations

• Client, transaction and behavioural red flags
• Indicators of high-risk structures, jurisdictions and financial activity
• Enhanced due diligence approaches and escalation considerations

Strengthening governance, fraud prevention and economic crime control frameworks

• Risk assessment, governance and accountability measures
• AML controls, monitoring and reporting mechanisms
• Building effective organisational culture, awareness and resilience

Practical scenarios and risk management strategies for accounting environments

• Scenario-based analysis of emerging economic crime risks
• Applying controls to real-world accounting and finance situations
• Practical mitigation strategies for firms and practitioners

Rob McCusker

Professor Rob McCusker is a transnational crime consultant providing strategic and policy advice to international governments and organisations in countries ranging from Cameroon, Jamaica and Somalia to Denmark, Afghanistan and Singapore, on cross-border crime, corruption, corporate governance, international security and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. Rob is a retained expert for Interpol (on ‘innovation and foresight’ in relation to future organised crime), a retained expert for the Economic Crime and Cooperation Division, Council of Europe (on ‘anti-corruption and good governance’, ‘anti-money laundering’, ‘combating organized crime’ and ‘combating terrorism and its funding’) and has been a designated expert for the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice since 2005 (on ‘economic crime, including money laundering’)

3 CPD units

ACCA members can use this learning to meet their CPD requirements provided it is relevant to their career. If the event contributes to general knowledge and skills, it should be recorded as non-verifiable CPD. If the learning can be applied in the workplace, it will contribute to verifiable CPD.

1 hour of learning = 1 unit of CPD.

Fee: 110 GBP + VAT (132 GBP) per delegate

Please note: If you are unable to join the live webinars, they will be available on-demand 24 hours after the live webinar ends and you will have access to the sessions for 12 months.

The webinar handout material will be available on the webinar platform when you log in to view, 15 minutes before the live webinar start.

If you wish to view or download handout materials, before the day of the webinar, they will also be available through your document library on https://events.accaglobal.com.

This event is organised by ACCA Continuous Learning.

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