India, Pakistan, Singapore, Brazil and Zimbabwe fall under the 'high risk' category for susceptibility to money laundering and terrorist financing, according to a report by global business consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The report, 'Anti-money laundering: Best practices for financial institutions,' ranks 244 countries as high, medium or low risk for susceptibility to money laundering.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada fall under the medium risk bracket, while low risk countries include Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

The PwC study cautions financial institutions worldwide that the greatest threat posed by money laundering is that the FIs' reputation could be destroyed.

Hanuman Tripathi, managing director, InfraSoft Technologies, one of India's leading banking solutions company, says: "Combating money laundering is becoming the major priority throughout the financial services industry across the world, including India. The Prevention of Money Laundering Bill 2002 got Parliament's nod during the winter session and consequential regulatory compulsions will make it mandatory for financial organisations in India to check, identify and report suspicious transactions."

"Failure to do so would mean leading the FIs to the risk of losing face in the marketplace or fighting costly legal battles on revelation of such irregularities. Cutting edge anti-money laundering software is the key solution to this enormous predicament of catching and curbing money laundering happening through banks and FIs," he said.

Along with top banking and financial IT solutions companies, InfraSoft Technologies Ltd, UK -- a subsidiary of the Indian company -- has been in the frontline in conceptualising and implementing anti-money laundering solutions in banks globally.

In India, InfraSoft offers support services in 35 cities through eight offices. Currently it has a customer base of 75 banks and FIs, of which 62 are from India, with banking products installed in over 4,000 sites. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and has operations in London, Switzerland, New York, Singapore and Bahrain.