NCJ Number
145495
Date Published
1992
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Two approaches predominate in both the national and international instruments designed to address the problem of money laundering: regulating the reporting of financial and currency transactions and making money laundering a crime.
Abstract
In the context of international relations, money laundering cannot be viewed in isolation, but rather as an offense involving universality of jurisdiction, through the confiscation of the proceeds of crime and international cooperation in upholding the rule of law. This report describes the laundering process and the ways in which bank secrecy practices and laws potentially contribute to illegal activity. The U.S. and Australia have enacted the most radical laws to combat money laundering. At the international level, there are a number of bilateral, regional, and multilateral agreements, including the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the UN money-laundering Convention. Signatories are also required to adopt such measures as permitting the tracing, seizure, freezing, and confiscation of the proceeds of crime. 13 notes