Informal and Formal Money Transfer Networks: Financial Service or Financial Crime?

Abstract

Prior to the events of 11th September, 2001, international cooperation in the field of global financial crime prevention was already well established. Prompted by separate initiatives led by the United Nations Organisation and the Basel Committee in the late 1980s, the creation in 1989 of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) by the G7 countries set in place an international body to coordinate anti‐money laundering measures across 26 countries and jurisdictions. Subsequently, and prompted by the creation of the FATF, other regional interstate organisations in western and eastern Europe, across the Americas and the Caribbean, and also in Asia, have drafted similar anti‐money laundering standards for their respective countries. In turn, these interstate regulatory initiatives have been complemented by parallel business‐led ‘voluntary’ initiatives, such as the example of the Wolfsberg Anti‐Money Laundering Principles designed to promote greater transparency across the banking sector.