Approximately sixty percent of German goods exports are transported via sea freight. The international shipping industry is dominated by firms registered in offshore centers with little transparency. Criminals feel invited to abuse these opaque constructions for laundering their illegally...

Shell companies can be a legitimate entity but can also been used for illicit activities such as money laundering. Users of shell companies have included illegal arms dealers, drug cartels, terrorists and cyber-criminals, as well as legitimate businesses. To assist in distinguishing between...

The rapid evolution of global trade offers great productivity gains to participating countries but also raises the likelihood of losing domestic resources through trade-based money laundering. This paper empirically examined whether trade-based money laundering affects domestic resource...

The first and second Eurojust meetings on Money Laundering and Asset Recovery took place on 19- 20 June 2023 and on 20-21 June 2024. The meetings brought together prosecutors specialised in asset recovery and tackling money laundering from the European Union and countries with liaison...

The rise in financial fraud has prompted regulatory proposals under the Payment Services Regulation in the form of a shared liability model provisioned under Article 59. The potential proposal by the European Parliament could now extend liability beyond Payment Service Providers to Electronic...

This study aims to assess the feasibility of providing a unique access point for competent authorities involved in the fight against money laundering and tax evasion to relevant asset registers in the EU Member States. The study first defines a list of assets relevant for money laundering and...

This study assesses the feasibility of setting up a single access point to relevant asset registries in the EU Member States for competent authorities involved in the fight against money laundering and tax evasion. It first defines the relevant assets for money laundering and tax evasion, maps...

The 2023 Investigations Activity Report highlights our commitment to integrity and transparency in all our activities. The European Investment Bank Group (EIB) is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and has a zero-tolerance policy for any prohibited conduct. The Group's...

This paper aims to examine the influence of controlling corruption, tax burden reduction, price stability and trade liberalization on trade-related illicit financial flows. The analysis focuses on a sample of 120 developing and emerging countries, drawn from data collected over the period...

When Russia attacked Ukraine, national states as well as multinational bodies such as the European Union imposed economic sanctions against Russia. Companies in sanctioning countries were expected to terminate their business with companies in the sanctioned country. However, the threat of...

Panama has struggled to bring its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime in line with international standards, resulting in periods of being “grey listed” by the international standard-setter, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Panama’s AML/CFT...

"Illicit financial flows (IFFs) associated with commodity trade erode the tax base of resource-rich developing countries. Efforts to curb IFFs and reform taxation stumble over enhanced North-South tensions but remain crucial to helping poorer countries mobilise domestic resources for...

The current review systematically synthesizes existing literature to provide a comprehensive overview of the nature of financial crimes in Africa and their impact on economic growth. We adopted the PRISMA protocol to identify 128 papers from the Scopus database; which were analyzed using MS...

This report summarizes the anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in place in the Virgin Islands (VI) as at the date of the onsite visit of March 15-30, 2023. It analyses the level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations...

We study how terminated correspondent banking relationships affect international trade. Drawing on firm-level export data from emerging Europe, we show that when local banks lose access to correspondent services, their corporate clients experience significant export declines. This trade...

The study characterizes financial monitoring as part of the system for preventing and counteracting the legalization of income and the financing of terrorism. The purpose of the research is to study the experience of how national financial monitoring systems function (in the UK, USA, China,...

This article explains some of the mechanisms through which corruption by high-level Mexican politicians and other organized crime members is facilitated in the United States through money laundering operations. The analysis is based on information contained in court records related to key money...

This report summarizes findings and recommendations from a Fund CD mission in Uganda from August 28 to September 1, 2023, in response to a request from the Bank of Uganda (BoU), focusing on AML/CFT measures. Key areas of focus included reviewing the legal and regulatory frameworks, developing...

Purpose of the article: The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the banking sector, focusing on its applications, challenges, and implications. By synthesizing existing research and empirical studies, the article aims to...

Debanking became a news story in 2023 when Nigel Farage alleged that Coutts had closed his account because its executives disapproved of his political opinions. A study by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that such ideologically motivated account closures are vanishingly rare....

Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) - such as corruption and money laundering - have a significant negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights. Combating IFF is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. SDG 16 explicitly promulgates the relation between the rule of law,...

Money laundering and reverse money laundering, also known as terrorism financing, have emerged as critical issues in the 21st century, posing threats to security, economic stability, and the integrity of financial systems. This article explores the growing use of anonymous shell companies as a...

The banking sector of three Baltic countries, i.e., Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, was abused by money laundering scandals between 2018 and 2020. The Danske Bank scandal was the largest one and, combined with the other scandals, inevitably triggered a heavy critique of national anti-money...

This paper uses the rare opportunity of the first ever criminal conviction in the UK of a bank for breaches of AML Regulations (NatWest) to examine the AML framework. The article investigates whether the current framework and enforcement are working in addressing the breaches. The article...

Indonesia has been actively developing anti-money laundering (AML) strategies for the past two decades, but a critical gap remains in the informal financial sector that has not received greater regulatory attention. Remarkably, this sector contributes to over half of Indonesia's GDP, with...

The United Kingdom's (UK) property markets are thought to be a common destination for corrupt and criminal assets and money laundering, with investment often through offshore shell companies. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we study the impact of the introduction of a policy...

This paper introduces "Digital Bill (DB)" as a solution to address concerns regarding money laundering, illicit activities, and the limited adoption of cryptocurrencies. DB is a digital representation of a bill of exchange that offers unique features to establish a secure and widely accepted...

This project focuses on using predictive modeling techniques to combat money laundering and improve Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance efforts. The IBM Synthetic Financial Data Money Laundering dataset is used to explore the effectiveness of different machine learning algorithms in...