Moving the Needle on Money Laundering: How Can We Be effective?

• In Event: Roundtable: Violence

Abstract

Moving the needle on money laundering: how can we be effective?
Money laundering is a global crime, magnified by the rise of financial technologies like cryptocurrency and digital assets. Fraud and scams are on an exponential rise. As financial crimes persist, coordinated, data-driven approaches become crucial to the development of effective crime control strategies. This paper examines U.S. efforts through the 1998 Money Laundering Strategy Act, which aimed to provide law enforcement with tools and resources to combat illicit funds. It explores why this comprehensive policy failed to significantly reduce money laundering or serve as an effective crime control strategy.
By all accounts, the Act contained all the necessary components for effective reduction of money laundering and related financial crime. The Act required the development of a detailed national money laundering strategy, enabled the identification and designation of high-risk money laundering and financial crime areas for targeting, and established the financial crime-free communities grant program to support local law enforcement in the suppression of money laundering and related financial crimes. Further research is needed to assess each element of the Act and its impact on efforts to reduce money laundering and financial crimes.

Author

• Anne Walton, Independent Researcher