January 13, 2017
Banks and trust companies can do much more to prevent corruption, such as money laundering and fraud, in football, the Dutch central bank DNB concluded after investigating how financial firms deal with the risk of shady practices in football, the Volkskrant reports.
Large sums of money are often moved about in the football world, according to the bank. “In combination with other factors such as a closed culture, perverse incentives, potential conflicts of interest and the possible use of corporate structures to conceal cash flows, this makes the sector vulnerable to money laundering and other integrity risks”, DNB wrote. Transactions on the transfer market are especially vulnerable due to a lack of transparency, the bank wrote, according to the newspaper. A survey DNB did among 19 financial institutions that deal with the football world found that only two of them took specific measures to avoid becoming involved in money laundering or fraud.