Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has joined forces with Griffith University to establish a new academy focused on tackling financial crime.
The academy will combine CBA’s existing capability to combat financial crime and Griffith University’s expertise in business and accounting structures, criminology, and cybersecurity technologies, to offer financial crime investigation and compliance programs.
“This collaboration is part of a global effort to address financial crime,” said Andreas Chai, Griffith Business School Accounting, Finance and Economics head of department. “We aim to contribute to national solutions to safeguard the integrity of the global financial system and of Australia’s national security. The new national standard will be achieved by equipping students with foundational knowledge of financial crime obligations and core analytical skills in forensic accounting, investigations, and criminology that will help them to identify and detect patterns of financial crime behaviour in financial data.”
Chai said proceeds from criminal activity accounted for $3 trillion annually around the world, which was about 2% of the global GDP, with less than 1% of this ever reclaimed.
The academy has been established to help address the shortage of skilled workers who specialise in combatting financial crime. It also aims to create learning pathways for students, people wishing to re-skill to move into financial crime prevention, as well as existing professionals who would like to build on their expertise.
The academy will provide CBA employees access to professional development opportunities as well as help grow the financial crime workforce. Programs will be offered as non-award micro-credentials and award postgraduate graduate certificate and graduate diploma qualifications.
“We are pleased to partner with Griffith University to build Australia’s capability to combat financial crime,” said Nigel Williams, CBA’s group chief risk officer. “Together we will help protect our community by making it harder for criminals.”
“I am excited by this partnership with Griffith University, enabling the combined skills and experience of our respective institutions to build a sustainable career path for this profession,” said John Fogarty, CBA’s executive general manager of financial crime compliance. “This is the start of a qualification that can be applied across all industries to help combat the real impacts of financial crime in our community.”
CBA will provide investment, experts, and support a number of graduate positions. The tie-up will also enable collaborative research projects and the development of innovative technology and service delivery tools.
