ABN AMRO presents movie in search of hundreds of anti-money laundering heroes

ABN AMRO has produced the movie ‘The Dark Side of Money’ to entice young people to take up this challenging task at the bank. This financial thriller shows its viewers the harsh reality behind criminal money and what impact money laundering has. Many people perceive this as something from a different world, but ABN AMRO wants to change this through the campaign. You can watch The Dark Side of Money on ABN AMRO’s website starting today. The trailer is being shown in cinemas from 2 to 29 July in almost 100 Dutch cinemas, including all Pathé cinemas.

Criminal transactions worldwide represent around 2,400 billion euros every year. Profitsfrom drug sales and other criminal activities are either laundered or used to fund other criminal activities. Dutch banks are often misused for money laundering schemes by criminals, harming the financial system. “Money laundering is a huge problem,” says Robert Swaak, CEO of ABN AMRO. “An estimated 13 billion euros worth of criminal money is laundered in the Netherlands every year. These money streams are used for things such as drug and human trafficking and funding terrorism. ABN AMRO currently employs more than two thousand people who are fully dedicated to tracking down financial crime. But that’s not enough. ‘The Dark Side of Money’ helps to bring this issue to the attention of potential colleagues and to find the right people who want to work with us to make the financial system safer.”

Tracking down errors

The movie shows a money laundering scheme. Initially, it looks like an ‘ordinary’ movie, but people who pay attention will notice there are suspicious details that don’t add up. “Thoseare the mistakes we want people to discover,” says Maaike Scholtens, an Employer Brand specialist at ABN AMRO. “Anti-laundering analysts need an eye for detail to recognise suspicious transactions and those are the people we want for our Detecting Financial Crime department. Young people don’t immediately view a bank as an employer and often don’t think you can do socially relevant work at banks. This movie shows that there’s a world of violence and oppression behind money laundering and what role banks play to combat this. By helping track down suspicious transactions, you can directly contribute to fighting this form of crime.”

Wanted: one hundred anti-money laundering heroes

All activities related to tracking down financial crime come together at our Detecting Financial Crime department. In the coming period, the bank wants to inspire hundreds of young professionals for a job in this department. Junior positions are aimed at recent MBO+, HBO oruniversity graduates who have an eye for analytics. Intermediate and senior positions are aimed at young professionals with at least three years of experience, preferably in the field of financial crime, who have an eye for analytics. There are currently 400 job vacancies in different positions. ABN AMRO expects to add at least another 300 job openings in 2021.