Efforts to launder money and finance terrorism have been evolving rapidly in recent years in response to heightened countermeasures. The international community has witnessed the use of increasingly sophisticated methods to move illicit funds through financial systems across the globe and has acknowledged the need for improved multilateral cooperation to fight these criminal activities. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have developed this guide to help countries understand the new international standards. It will hopefully serve as a comprehensive source of practical information for countries to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. It discusses the problems caused by these crimes, the specific actions countries need to take to address them, and the role international organizations, such as the Bank and the IMF, play in the process. This guide is a tool for countries to establish and improve their legal and institutional frameworks and their preventive measures according to international standards and best practices. -- From Foreword (p. ix).

The pursuit of the financial proceeds of criminal activity has become a central theme of contemporary crime control. Initially conceived to tackle the global trade in illegal drugs, these methods have been more recently employed in the context of terrorism. This work offers a judicious account of the national and international strategies which seek to cope with crime by attacking its financial underpinnings. The book focuses on the increasingly civil legal orientation of these strategies - a sea change from criminal prosecutions to civil legal instruments. The author focuses on developments of the civil strategy in the US and the UK beginning with its historical origins. The work reveals the contradictions that animate the civil approach to criminal finance and discloses the failure of civil devices, as presently constituted, to comply with rights. It bridges the gap between two jurisdictions prominent in this area; the United States and the United Kingdom. This comparative element distinguishes the project from other work in the field that focuses on a single jurisdiction. Critical in its perspective, the work brings balance and reflection to an emergent area of national and international interest.

Through a thorough analysis of emerging legal and regulatory issues in Islamic finance law and practice in Malaysia, this exciting new study covers issues such as blockchain technology, anti-money laundering, and FinTech in Islamic finance.

"Money laundering and terrorist financing are serious crimes that affect not only those persons directly involved, but the economy as a whole. According to international standards, every bank has the obligation to know its customers and to report suspicious transactions. Although these obligations sound straightforward, they have proved challenging to implement. What information precisely has to be gathered? How should it be recorded? If and when does one have to file a suspicious transaction report? It is here that a supervisor can play a crucial role in helping supervised institutions; first, in understanding the full extent of the obligations of Customer Due Diligence and Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) and, second, in ensuring that those obligations are not just words on paper but are applied in practice. Effective supervision is key to the success of a country's AML/CFT system. In this regard, field work in both developed and developing countries has shown an overall low compliance in the area of supervision of banks and other financial institutions; supervisory compliance is indeed generally lower than the average level of compliance with all Financial Action Task Force recommendations. As a result, by providing examples of good practices, this book aims to help countries better conform to international standards. In this regard, this handbook is specifically designed for bank supervisors.

Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and Compliance: Key Problems and Practice Areas is a comprehensive treatment of the Anti-Money Laundering/Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance programs, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and the best practices under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and sanctions regulatory regimes. AML/CFT and sanctions provisions are highly interrelated. Onboarding and customer due diligence requirements generate the data entered into transaction monitoring and screening systems.

This report provides a summary of the anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in place in the People’s Republic of China (China)1 as at the date of the onsite visit (July 9–27, 2018). It analyzes the level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations and the level of effectiveness of China’s AML/CFT system and provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened. China has undertaken a number of initiatives since 2002 that have contributed positively to its understanding of ML/TF risk, although some important gaps remain. Its framework for domestic AML/CFT cooperation and coordination is well established.