Our Financial Crimes

This book focuses on the financial crime policies adopted by the international community and how these have been implemented in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Financial market reform has focused chiefly on the threats to stability arising from the risky, uncontrolled activity of the leaders of financial institutions. Nevertheless, organized crime, white-collar crime, and corruption have a huge impact on financial systems worldwide and must also be confronted if true reform is to be achieved. A collection of articles written by experts in their fields of study, Financial Crimes: A Threat to Global Security spotlights the importance of addressing the problem of illegal financial activity as part of a greater comprehensive plan for reforming the financial sector. Drawn from the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) held in Vienna, the book explores the major themes discussed at this elite symposium. In the first section, the contributors examine changing concepts in security over the course of history and across nations. They discuss how an event in Austria led to the implementation of a new security philosophy that is now followed by the majority of the European Union. The book examines the diverse models of preventing security threats that have grown from that idea as well as the gradual expansion of the role of the security council of the United Nations. The next section analyzes the present state of security worldwide and examines the wide array of criminal activity that plagues the financial sector. Expert contributors reveal methods to identify certain types of behavior and criminals as well as efforts to combat illegal activity—including the role of the media. The final section investigates alternative approaches to preventing another worldwide financial disaster through investigative reporting, human factors analysis, legislative initiatives, and other methods. Filled with insight from international experts, the book highlights both the warning signs to illegal activity as well as the most effective methods for combating the invidious corruption that, if unchecked, puts all nations at risk. Maximilian Edelbacher will be appearing at three upcoming events: June 28, 2012: Roundtable in the House of the European Union in Vienna on the topic "Financial Crimes: A Threat to European Security?" October 8, 2012: Roundtable in Joannneum, Austria on the topic "Financial Crimes: A Threat to Global Security" October 9, 2012: Book presentation at the Hans Gross Museum in Graz, Austria

This book deals with the widespread economic and financial crime issues of corruption, the shadow economy and money laundering. It investigates both the theoretical and practical aspects of these crimes, identifying their effects on economic, social and political life. This book presents these causes and effects with a state of the art review and with recent empirical research. It compares the international and transnational aspects of these economic and financial crimes through discussion and critical analysis. This volume will be of interest to researchers and policy makers working to study and prevent economic and financial crime, white collar crime, and organized crime.

This book on the psychology of white collar criminals discusses various cases of financial crime, while also attempting to delve into the minds of the criminals in question. The literature on this topic is growing as it gains momentum in the scientific field, as a result of the extremely negative impact white collar crime has on its victims. Because there is considerable damage and vulnerability from these crimes, it is important to begin to classify them, and to understand the minds of those that commit these offenses. While the current literature is not extensive, this work provides a closer look into the various ethical and legal facets of financial crime, and helps to uncover the social, psychological and neurobiological factors that intersect in the minds of those criminals.

Examining a shocking array of fraud, corruption, theft, and embezzlement cases, this vivid collection reveals the practice of detecting, investigating, prosecuting, defending, and resolving white-collar crimes. Each chapter is a case study of an illustrative criminal case and draws on extensive public records around both obscure and high-profile crimes of the powerful, such as money laundering, mortgage fraud, public corruption, securities fraud, environmental crimes, and Ponzi schemes. Organized around a consistent analytic framework, each case tells a unique story and provides an engaging introduction to these complex crimes, while also introducing students to the practical aspects of investigation and prosecution of white-collar offenses. Jennifer C. Noble’s text takes students to the front lines of these vastly understudied crimes, preparing them for future practice and policy work.

Outlining the different types of financial crime and its impact, this book is a user-friendly, up-to-date guide to the regulatory processes, systems and legislation which exist in the UK. Each chapter has a similar structure and covers individual financial crimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, insider dealing, market abuse and bribery and corruption. Offences are summarized and their extent is evaluated using national and international documents. Detailed assessments of financial institutions and regulatory bodies are made and the achievements of these institutions are analysed. Sentencing and policy options for different financial crimes are included and suggestions are made as to how criminal proceeds might be recovered. Drawing the different themes of the book together, the final chapter makes recommendations for the future and will provoke further thought and discussion on this topical subject. Each chapter also has a section on Recommending Reading. It will be a valuable resource for students studying vocational courses and will be a key text for undergraduate and post-graduate students in law schools, departments of criminal justice and business schools.

The recent global financial crisis has been characterised as a turning point in the way we respond to financial crime. Focusing on this change and ‘crime in the commercial sphere’, this text considers the legal and economic dimensions of financial crime and its significance in societal consciousness in twenty-first century Britain. Considering how strongly criminal enforcement specifically features in identifying the post-crisis years as a ‘turning point’, it argues that nineteenth-century encounters with financial crime were transformative for contemporary British societal perceptions of ‘crime’ and its perpetrators, and have lasting resonance for legal responses and societal reactions today. The analysis in this text focuses primarily on how Victorian society perceived and responded to crime and its perpetrators, with its reactions to financial crime specifically couched within this. It is proposed that examining how financial misconduct became recognised as crime during Victorian times makes this an important contribution to nineteenth-century history. Beyond this, the analysis underlines that a historical perspective is essential for comprehending current issues raised by the ‘fight’ against financial crime, represented and analysed in law and criminology as matters of enormous intellectual and practical significance, even helping to illuminate the benefits and potential pitfalls which can be encountered in current moves for extending the reach of criminal liability for financial misconduct. Sarah Wilson’s text on this highly topical issue will be essential reading for criminologists, legal scholars and historians alike. It will also be of great interest to the general reader. The Origins of Modern Financial Crime was short-listed for the Wadsworth Prize 2015.

Criminal Capital is an engaging but authoritative account of how financial structures and products can and are being used to evade proper scrutiny and enable criminal activity and what can be done about it. Based on the analysis of the financial methods that are frequently used by criminals, it deals with the widespread abuse of financial systems.