Preventing teenagers from being involved in money laundering and becoming money mules

The regulator recommends that banks warn teenagers about such risks immediately after opening an account and inform their parents or other legal representatives about bank cards issued to them. To this end, banks may update the terms of contracts, including effective ones.

Banks’ internal documents should set out the signs of a minor’s possible involvement in illegal transactions.

To become aware of teenagers’ standard transactions, banks should find out which relatives may transfer money to them and who their young clients’ usual beneficiaries are. If it turns out that a teenager receives large amounts from an unknown person or if the former makes large transfers him/herself, the bank should contact the minor’s representative. Contracts may also specify a limit on individual transactions. Furthermore, if a bank suspects that transactions are carried out by a person other than its teenager customer or that the latter acts under someone’s pressure, it may deny the transaction.