NCJ Number
180814
Journal
Trends in Organized Crime Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: Summer 1999 Pages: 1-7
Editor(s)
Roy Godson
Date Published
1999
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article provides an overview of two major reports that document developments in the international fight against money laundering as well as current trends.
Abstract
The first report is the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) 1998-99 Annual Report, including the Annual Typologies Report. The Task Force was created by the G7 nations in 1989 to develop a coordinated international response to money laundering. The second report is a detailed country-by-country survey by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics, and Law Enforcement Affairs. Both reports reach substantially similar general conclusions but emphasize different threats. Apparently, no major laundering techniques have recently emerged; however, certain new trends can be discerned both in money laundering and in the form of international responses. The premise of both reports is that organized crime is motivated by profit. The ability of organized criminal groups to launder their profits and use them is the key element that perpetuates crime; however, the often complex processes involved in money laundering expose these groups to risk of detection and apprehension. The 1998-99 FATF Annual Report, with the Typologies Report, assesses developments in member countries and describes ongoing and new initiatives. These include expanding the membership of FATF and devising methods to deal with noncooperating countries. Compliance with the FATF Forty Recommendations by individual members, based on self-assessments, is reported. Troublesome areas include the administration of anti-money laundering regulations, international reporting, and nonbank financial institutions. In the State Department's survey of trends in money laundering, with separate reports on individual jurisdictions (countries and territories), countries are ranked according to the State Department's degree of concern about money laundering.