Anti-Laundering Software Helps Track Shady Financing.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: J. BONASIA

Online banking lets people move money around the world with the click of a mouse -- and presents new challenges in the fight against financial fraud.

Just ask Alex Valme, a compliance officer for Unitransfer Inc., the money transfer arm of Unibank/Haiti. Each year, his firm moves millions of dollars in client funds around Haiti, the Caribbean, the U.S., South America and elsewhere.

Valme says the speed of these electronic transfers of big wads of cash have made it increasingly hard to stay ahead of terrorist groups, organized crime rings and other money launderers.

In addition, the Patriot Act and other new laws have ratcheted up fines and prison sentences for banks that fail to comply with the tougher regulations.

These challenges prompted Unitransfer's Florida office to install anti-money laundering software this year from ACL Services Ltd.

"Our reporting is clearer now," said Valme. "We have more structuring, which allows us to do research on suspicious transactions."