Reexamining the anti-money-laundering framework: a legal critique and new approach to combating money laundering
ISSN: 1359-0790
Article publication date: 24 March 2022
Issue publication date: 2 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Money laundering poses significant challenges for policymakers and law-enforcement authorities. The money-laundering phenomenon is often acknowledged as a type of “serious and organised crime” yet has traditionally been described as a complicated three-stage process, involving the “placement, layering and integration” of criminal proceeds. This article aims to reexamine the money-laundering concept within the realm of organised crime and critique its legal underpinnings.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explores how criminal actors collude in organised money-laundering schemes to circumvent laws and frustrate the efforts of officials, while advancing the regulatory-spatial paradigms of which organised money launderers operate. In doing so, it reframes the debate towards the “who” and “where” of money laundering.
Findings
This paper argues that authorities’ efforts to combat money laundering relies on rigid legal definitions and flawed ideals that fail to address the money-laundering problem.
Originality/value
There has been little scholarly debate that questions the fundamental approach to conceptualising money laundering. This paper proposes a new approach to combating money laundering that better incorporates the actors involved in money laundering and the spaces in which it occurs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests: The author has declared no conflicting interests.
Citation
Gilmour, P.M. (2023), "Reexamining the anti-money-laundering framework: a legal critique and new approach to combating money laundering", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 35-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-02-2022-0041
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited