KAKISTOCRACY – a government run by the most unscrupulous or least qualified people. The term is derived from two Greek words, kakistos (κάκιστος; worst) and kratos (κράτος; rule), literally meaning ‘government by the worst people’.
KICKBACK – a bribe, the return of an undue favour or service rendered, an illegal secret payment made as a return for a favour. The word describes a bribe as seen from the angle of the bribed. For example, A gives B a favour and B gives A a kickback in return. The term is used to describe, in a seemingly innocent way, the returns of a corrupt or illegal transaction or the gains from rendering a special service. Synonyms: percentage, share, cut, commission, payoff, etc.
KLEPTOCRACY (from klepto – to steal, and – kratos – rule, therefore, rule by looters) – a political system dominated by those who steal from state coffers and practice extortion as their modus operandi. Among the more well-known former kleptocrats we list Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević, Duvalier (‘Papa Doc’) of Haiti, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaïre, Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic, and Suharto of Indonesia.
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER (KYC) – describes a set of anti-money laundering measures normally mandated by law which are employed by banks and other financial services to document the true identity of a customer/client and his or her source of wealth to make sure it is legitimate. The KYC information is compiled and retained in a client profile that is periodically updated. Actual activity over the account is compared to the KYC profile to identify activity that raises suspicions of money laundering.
