The number of suspicious activity reports filed has increased over the past year and the Financial Intelligence Authority has passed on several of them to the relevant authorities for further information.

Those were the findings of Attorney General Kim Wilson, who was speaking on the impact of the global financial and economic crisis on anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financial terrorism (CFT) systems and the steps being taken to tackle the issue in the Senate yesterday.

Senator Wilson said that it was unclear how much of the rise arose from increased money laundering activities related to the financial crisis. However, she added it was likely the enhancement of the legislative and operational AML/CFT framework and changes in the type and nature of services available to transfer money out of the jurisdiction had probably had a major impact in that respect. She claimed that the amount of "small" fraud cases appeared to have risen and there had been various relatively large seizures of drug shipments in recent months, as well as cash seizures at the borders on the up, due to more focused policing, more effective co-operation and the implementation of a more robust AML/CFT legislative regime.

Sen. Wilson added that the financial crisis had resulted in a continued decrease in retail sales and noticeable changes in spending patterns, while house prices had fallen across the board.

"Nearly all sectors have been negatively affected by the lower sales, with the exception of food and liquor stores which are recording gains in revenue," she said.

"Although the banks have been able to maintain generous mortgage policies, housing prices have fallen at all levels with the greatest drop at the higher end of the market. To the extent possible, people are definitely trying to maintain or build cash reserves."