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.

The role played by legal professionals in the laundering of criminal proceeds generated by others has become a priority concern for authorities at national and international levels. This ground-breaking book presents an in-depth empirical analysis of the nature of lawyers’ involvement in the facilitation of money laundering and its control through criminal justice and regulatory mechanisms. It is based on qualitative research combining analysis of cases of lawyers convicted of money laundering offences with interviews with criminal justice practitioners, members of professional and regulatory bodies and practising solicitors, and analysis of relevant national and international legislative and regulatory frameworks. The book demonstrates the complex and diverse nature of lawyers’ involvement in laundering activity, and shows that their actions and the decisions they take must be understood in relation to the specific situational contexts in which they occur. It provides significant new insights into the criminal justice and regulatory response to professional facilitation of money laundering in the UK, raising questions about the effectiveness and appropriateness of the response and the challenges involved. The book develops a framework for future research and analysis in this area, and proposes a range of potential strategies for controlling the facilitation of money laundering. Lawyers and the Proceeds of Crime is essential reading for those researching money laundering, white-collar crime or organised crime, and for practitioners and policy makers concerned with preventing the facilitation of money laundering.

The leading text on money laundering law in the UK and EU.

"This new work by Margaret E. Beare and Stephen Schneider brings empirical evidence to the study of money laundering in Canada. The authors challenge the dominant, seemingly common-sense notion, fuelled by political posturing and policing rhetoric, that taking the profits away from criminals (proceeds of crime enforcement) is a rational and effective tactic. Using extensive research involving records gathered from police, financial institutions, and legal sources, the authors paint a picture of a dubiousenforcement strategy beset by conflicting interests and agendas, an overly ambitious set of expectations, and reliance on an ambiguous body of evidence as to the strategy's overall merits."--BOOK JACKET.

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.

In the past twenty years action in respect of the profits of crime has moved rapidly up the criminal justice agenda. Not only may confiscation orders be made,but there are also now serious substantive criminal offences of laundering the proceeds of crime. Moreover, the consequences of the regulatory régimes put in place by the Money Laundering Regulations 1993 and the Financial Services Authority are very significant. This book examines critically the history, theory and practice of all these developments, culminating in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which marks another step in the move towards greater concentration both on the financial aspects of crime and on the internationalisation of criminal law. The Act puts in place the Assets Recovery Agency, which will be central to the strategy of targeting criminal monies and will have power to bring forfeiture proceedings without a prior criminal conviction and to raise assessments to taxation. The author subjects the law of laundering, especially the novel aspects of the Proceeds of Crime Act itself, to thorough analysis and a human rights' audit. Contents: Introduction; The Economics of Money Laundering; Theory: Justifications for Forfeiture, Confiscation, and Criminalisation; History of Forfeiture and Confiscation Provisions; The International Dimension; Forfeiture Provisions; Statutory Confiscation Provisions; Investigatory Powers; Beyond Confiscation - Criminalisation; Acquisition and Deployment of Money for Terrorism; Confiscation without Conviction - 'Civil Recovery'; Money Laundering and the Professions

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