The responsibility of the Auditing profession in detecting money laundering from the viewpoint of External Auditors and the users of financial statements

Abstract

This study aims to identify the responsibility of external auditor profession in fighting against money laundering crimes. The study relies upon a sample of external auditors and financial statements’ users to find out their opinions of the study’s problem. The analysis reveals a " responsibility gap " between the external auditor and the users of financial statements in terms of the responsibility of external auditor in reporting these crimes, as well as the responsibility of organizations and professional bodies in terms of a lack of guidelines and the issued standards.