Financial crime in business organizations: an empirical study

Purpose – The purpose of this empirical study of financial crime in business organizations is to create insights into management competence, applications of information technology and use of information sources to combat financial crime. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical research was carried out by a web‐based questionnaire combined with a letter to the largest business organizations in Norway. Findings – Executives demonstrate competence in crime prevention by introducing control mechanisms and reporting routines. However, when suspicion of crime occurs, executives are not competent in carrying out interviews, investigate documents and find electronic evidence. Practical implications – Executives need to focus less on routines and regulations and more on information sources and knowledge management. Originality/value – Both descriptive statistics as well as correlation analysis in this paper provide new insights into the extent of financial crime, as well as competence, information sources and systems in a developed economy such as Norway.