Money Laundering And Proceeds Of Crime

A concise and practical guide to domestic laws dealing with proceeds of crime and money laundering including recent amendments to the Criminal Code and new anti-terrorism legislation.

The pursuit of the financial proceeds of criminal activity has become a central theme of contemporary crime control. Initially conceived to tackle the global trade in illegal drugs, these methods have been more recently employed in the context of terrorism. This work offers a judicious account of the national and international strategies which seek to cope with crime by attacking its financial underpinnings. The book focuses on the increasingly civil legal orientation of these strategies - a sea change from criminal prosecutions to civil legal instruments. The author focuses on developments of the civil strategy in the US and the UK beginning with its historical origins. The work reveals the contradictions that animate the civil approach to criminal finance and discloses the failure of civil devices, as presently constituted, to comply with rights. It bridges the gap between two jurisdictions prominent in this area; the United States and the United Kingdom. This comparative element distinguishes the project from other work in the field that focuses on a single jurisdiction. Critical in its perspective, the work brings balance and reflection to an emergent area of national and international interest.

Annotation This highly practical guide explains the basis of international law, regulations and standards in this area and how they effect businesses and provides down to earth advice on the basic rules of good business management: know your client, know your business (and your client's business), which will help companies understand what procedures to establish and how and when to report suspicious activity.

This book gives a broad analysis of the legal issues raised by the international fight against money laundering. It offers an extensive comparative research of the criminal and preventive law aspects from an international perspective. Stessens portrays money laundering as a new criminal trend threatening both national and international societies which must be addressed multilaterally through banking practice, international conventions and human rights. Most of this volume is devoted to specific legal problems that spring from the international nature of the money laundering phenomenon. It contains a most detailed overview on the rules and practices of international co-operation in the fight against money laundering. The publication gives a thorough examination of the exchange of information, lifting banking secrecy, and seizing and confiscating assets, as well as the jurisdictional questions that inevitably arise in this context. The result is a rich and detailed study of international and comparative law.

"This essential resource on money laundering laws contains the up-to-date Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and Regulations, FINTRAC guidelines and related legislation and materials. The expert commentary, prepared by Terence D. Hall of Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP, outlines the compliance requirements and liablilities of lawyers, financial institutions, accountants and other reporting entities under the post-2006 amendments regime. Also included are the Forty Recommendations and the Nine Special Recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force."--Back cover

Responding to Money Laundering has its origin in the International Conference on Preventing and Controlling Money Laundering and the Use of Proceeds of Crime: A Global Approach organised by ISPAC, the International Scientific and Advisory Board of the United Nations in co-operation with the Crime and Justice Branch of the United Nations under the auspices of the Italian Government. This conference has been a milestone in the recent international debate on money laundering. Some of the main papers presented are substantially revised and collected in this book making a major contribution to the development of expertise in the field. Divided into two sections -- "Trends and Implications" and "Tuning the Instruments" -- the chapters develop an analysis of the different aspects of the money laundering problem and attempt to tune the instruments for combating them. Globalization of the problem calls for globalization of the responses. By presenting a wide range of different approaches and

Money laundering is the process of converting or transferring cash or other assets, generated from illegal activity, in order to conceal or disguise their origins. In recent years, the international community has decided that focusing on money laundering is an efficient strategy in policing organized crime and, now terrorism. To this end, countries are encouraged to harmonize their policies and legislation and, to some extent, their policing strategies. Before adopting these new strategies, however, it is important to understand the extent of money laundering in different jurisdictions, as well as the likelihood of success and the costs involved in these anti-laundering strategies. This new work by Margaret E. Beare and Stephen Schneider brings empirical evidence to the study of money laundering in Canada - a topic that has recently assumed an international profile. They challenge the seemingly common sense notion, fueled by political posturing and policing rhetoric, that taking the profits away from criminals is a rational law enforcment strategy. Using data from police cases, the inner working of financial institutions, and the 'successful' claims of privilege from our legal profession, the final picture that the authors paint is of a good enforcement strategy run amuch amid conflicting interests and agendas, an overly ambitious set of expectations, and an ambiguous body of evidence as to the strategy's overall merits.