Anne Marthe Bjønness

Associate Professor

Email: Anne.Marthe.Bjonness@phs.no

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Background and experience

I have a MSc degree in Business and I am currently working on a PhD in Law & Economics at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen. My research focusses on anti-money laundering and the effectiveness of the AML compliance regime. I am responsible for continuing education courses related to financial crime.

Teaching

Financial crime investigations
Interagency collaboration in combatting financial crime
Asset forfeiture and financial investigations

Research

Anti-money laundering
Financial crime
Compliance
Financial investigations

Projects

Regulated Entities: Gatekeepers and Professional Enablers of Money Laundering

Bjønness, Anne Marthe & Kolstad, Ivar (2026). Hidden ownership in suspicious transactions - experimental evidence on anti-money laundering reporting priorities in Norway. International Review of Law and Economics. ISSN 0144-8188. 86, p. 106334–106334. doi: 10.1016/j.irle.2026.106334. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Concealing illicit funds through hidden ownership is a well-known money laundering method. This paper analyzes whether non-transparent ownership receives sufficient attention relative to other red flags of money laundering, using a randomized discrete choice experiment of 334 Norwegian anti-money laundering (AML) professionals. The results show that while unknown beneficial ownership increases the odds that a transaction is reported as suspicious, it increases reporting odds by only about half as much as unknown origin of funds. This suggests that although non-transparent ownership is considered a primary red flag of money laundering, and despite the increased attention this issue has received by international policymakers, non-transparent ownership may still receive insufficient attention by AML professionals. Paradoxically, our analysis indicates that industry professionals consider the AML reporting system to be well-functioning as there are no major differences between which transactions respondents say are reported and which transactions should be reported to combat money laundering.

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Stensland, Marianne & Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2026). 433 millioner i mistenkelige transaksjoner ikke rapportert. [Journal]. E24. doi: https:/e24.no/norsk-oekonomi/i/OkEMRb/433-millioner-i-mistenkelige-transaksjoner-ikke-rapportert. Full text in Research Archive
Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2026). Portvoktere og profesjonelle tilretteleggere for hvitvasking. Full text in Research Archive
Bjønness, Anne Marthe & Opsahl, Heidi Augestad (2026). Økonomisk kriminalitet. Full text in Research Archive
Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2026). PhD Public Defense: "Regulated Entities: Gatekeepers and Professional Enablers of Money Laundering". Full text in Research Archive
Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2026). PhD Trial Lecture: "Smaller Obligated Entities as Financial Crime Gatekeepers: Effectiveness, Challenges and Innovative Policy Alternatives". Full text in Research Archive
Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2026). Regulated Entities: Gatekeepers and Professional Enablers of Money Laundering. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Vitenskapelig foredrag, oppsummering av PhD-avhandling
Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2026). Regulated Entities: Gatekeepers and Professional Enablers of Money Laundering. Full text in Research Archive
Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2024). Kveldsnytt - Økonomisk kriminalitet. [TV]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive
Bjønness, Anne Marthe (2026). Regulated Entities: Gatekeepers and Professional Enablers of Money Laundering. Norges Handelshøyskole. ISSN 9788240505219. Full text in Research Archive

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Published Nov. 11, 2024 2:58 PM - Last modified June 24, 2025 2:56 PM