National And International Anti Money Laundering Law

Anti-Money Laundering is the definitive reference on money laundering and practice. First an outline will be given of the general approach taken by supra-national organisations like the United Nations and the European Council. Next the approach taken by international organisations and initiatives on the basis of the supra-national initiatives will be outlined by senior members of those organisations. A number of countries will then describe their specific prevention legislation. Countries involved will all be member-countries of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering). Finally there will be an overview to enable the reader to make a comparison between the most important topics of money laundering legislation and rules in the different countries.

Présentation de l'éditeur : "While Anti-Money Laundering instruments are ever increasing in scope and complexity, policymakers have often lost sight of the objectives pursued. As a consequence, legislation is, in many cases, shaped by unrealistic political expectations and inconsistent design. Against this backdrop, this book explains key deficiencies of existing law and develops policy proposals to enhance both effectiveness and respect for fundamental rights. To this end, it thoroughly examines the interplay between criminal justice, regulatory law and data protection rules in Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and contrasts these findings with the frameworks of the Financial Action Task Force and of the European Union. The results of this collaborative research project emphasise the need to approach Anti-Money Laundering as a complex architecture that consists of numerous diverse but highly interdependent areas of law. Reform debates must therefore overcome a fragmented vision, in particular as regards the shape of criminal proceedings, the function of Financial Intelligence Units and supervisory authorities, the aims of private sector involvement and the scope of public-private information sharing. Only then does one learn from past mistakes and avoid ill-conceived remedies that ultimately fail to adapt supranational standards to the institutional and constitutional reality of countries' domestic legal order."

This monograph offers a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulations in the United States and the European Union. It provides academics, legal professionals and interested readers with a deep understanding of the developments of the AML/CTF legal framework and guides them into the dimension of its most difficult relation with international and European human rights law. The implementation of global anti-money laundering regulations in the United Stated and the European Union has essentially led to the suspension of laws governing privacy and bank secrecy. Banks and other financial institutions now operate as an extension of law enforcement. The current Anti-Money Laundering regime jeopardises the fundamental achievements of the constitutional state. The increasing centralisation and cooperation of the competent authorities in the exchange of personal data information creates a security architecture that leads to a considerable risk of freedom restriction. In particular, the extension of the authorities ́ power of intervention granting them access to citizens ́ personal data without the need for initial suspicion underlines that a substantial part of the constitutional state is at risk. Furthermore, banks appear to use these policies as an instrument to clear legitimate but less profitable customers, in particular those with a migration background. Consequently, the implementation of the AML/CTF legal framework appears to follow a discriminatory path and clearly discloses incompatibility features with respect to the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the European Union. This monograph further explores factors contributing to the inefficiency of AML/CTF regulatory and legislative measures. Such factors are identified in inconsistent rules, which make the cooperation among national investigative authorities within the EU and at an international level more challenging. As a result, this work acknowledges regulatory and legislative harmonisation with respect to AML/CTF regimes as a central tool to successfully improve the effectiveness of AML/CTF regimes, while preserving the individual right to privacy, due process and civil rights.

This second edition of the Reference Guide is a comprehensive source of practical information on how countries can fight money laundering and terrorist financing. Aimed at helping countries understand the new international standards, it discusses the problems caused by these crimes, the specific actions countries need to take to address them, and the role international organizations play in the process. The Reference Guide is a valuable tool for establishing effective regimes to successfully prevent, detect, and prosecute money laundering and terrorist financing.

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.

Starting with an overview of the development of money laundering and the work of international organisations, International Guide to Money Laundering Law and Practice is a unique publication providing a detailed insight into the background of money laundering operations, clearly explaining the anti-money laundering laws and regulations in 35 key global financial centres throughout the world. In addition, there are four chapters considering money laundering law and practice in the UK with the emphasis on the legal and regulatory framework and include: a chapter on the accounting and auditing issues; and a chapter on confiscating the proceeds of crime written by Jonathan Fisher, QC, a leading barrister specialising in corporate and financial crime, proceeds of crime and tax cases. It also contains a chapter covering international responses and initiatives to money laundering. The fifth edition covers, amongst other things, the implementation of the Fifth EU Money Laundering Directive and the Criminal Finances Bill. Written by local experts and edited by a team from Baker McKenzie's Financial Services Group, International Guide to Money Laundering Law and Practice is the leading, authoritative text on this heavily regulated area of law. It is essential for all banking and finance practitioners involved in anti-money laundering, banks, compliance officers and regulators in order to keep abreast of the developments and compliant with the law and regulations internationally.

In the aftermath of recent multiple leaks such as the Panama Papers, the Swiss leaks, the Lux leaks, and the Bahama leaks, this book offers an interesting view on the underlying conflicting interests that impede the adoption of more effective legislation to stop money laundering by way of the financial system. The central position of the book is that the declared goals underlying the criminalization of money laundering have not been fulfilled. The effectiveness of the anti-money laundering regime in Germany is assessed by examining the indirect effects, collateral consequences, and positive interpretations of the law in action and of the law inaction; reducing the issue to a question of symbolic effectiveness does not reflect the complexity of the matter. What is demonstrated, is that the goals attributed to the regime were too ambitious, and that a lower degree of effectiveness has been accepted in order to balance the inherent political, economic and financial conflicting interests. Unlike other volumes focusing on this issue, this book deals with the implementation of the legislation and the consequences thereof, and is primarily aimed at legal sociologists, sociology of law researchers, criminal lawyers, criminologists with an interest in white collar crime and political scientists studying measures against illicit financial flows and the concrete implementation of anti-money laundering laws. The book will be of interest to both international policymakers and consultants as well as their counterparts in Germany for instance working on improving the instruments to fight organized crime and prevent the financing of terrorism through money laundering. The complexity of the anti-money laundering regime and all the variables are exhaustively and critically reviewed in the assessment, thereby providing complete instructions for future legislative steps. The case study regarding the situation in Germany maximizes readers’ insights into concrete effects of the implementation of international anti-money laundering standards at a national level, and the opinions of professionals working in the field and of experts on the law-making process are also illuminating. Moreover, the book equips non-German speakers with the information needed to deal with the extensive German legal scholarly production on article 261 of the German criminal code and the current internal political debate on the matter. Verena Zoppei is a Fellow Researcher at the International Security Division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. Specific to this book: • Broadens your understanding of the complexity of the anti-money laundering regime • Provides complete instructions for future legislative steps • Offers a qualitative and multidisciplinary approach of the money laundering offence • Also equips non-German readers/speakers with a handle on the extensive German legal scholarly production on article 261 of the German criminal code This is Volume 12 in the International Criminal Justice Series

Adopting a mixed-methods approach, this book assesses the role of soft law as a technique to repress and prevent money laundering. The consequence of the combination of a non-traditional subject matter with the limitations of traditional international law instruments has meant that lawmakers seeking international solutions to the problems of money laundering have had to innovate. This book addresses two fundamental issues in the context of existing international and domestic responses to the problem of money laundering that have hitherto been neglected. These include the nature of the treaty obligations to criminalise money laundering, and the role of soft law as a technique to regulate it globally. The book concludes that international legal harmonisation and approximation of domestic anti-money laundering law through soft law remains helpful in addressing this pressing problem. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and policy-makers working in the areas of Financial Crime, Anti-Money Laundering Law, Regulation, International Soft Law, and Comparative Law.