Money laundering is one of the main 'engines of crime' sustaining global criminal enterprises and is worth billions of dollars. The increasingly global and virtual nature of financial services and the emergence of technology-enabled products, such as crypto currencies and anonymization tools, have made the task of combating it more difficult.To complicate things, controlling much of this mega-illicit activity are global money laundering syndicates, who offer their services to criminal networks, and are highly adept at exploiting gaps in the financial systems. Another complication to the compliance function is the complex legal requirements set by each country to limit the international flows of illicit funds. These are the challenging conditions within which anti-money laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF) measures currently operate.Money laundering takes place in all forms and shapes. There are no social, economic, geographic, or professional boundaries immune from abuse which can facilitate money laundering. Artwork, antiquities, antiques, precious stones, and exotic cars are among a few of the items frequently used. This book will explore elements of money laundering that touch all these areas.To understand money laundering, one must understand the history of money laundering and the evolution of the inclusion of priceless items as a means of laundering illegitimate and elicit funds. This guide is an essential tool to learn, understand, expand, and maintain a proper understanding of money laundering flows and how to prepare the financial industry for evolving risks.I grew up in Miami in the 80's and early 90's, a time when money laundering and drug trafficking through the city reached its peak. In fact, my banking career started at the height of the Cocaine Cowboy era in the mid-80's. At this time financial regulations were still in their infancy and technology to manage the detection and monitoring of white-collar financial crimes by financial institutions did not yet exist. I started off as a part time teller at a large Miami Beach bank while still in high school. This experience provided me with my first exposure to how billions of dollars in cash was making its way into banks across the city. I often refer to Miami as ground zero for money laundering, as well as for my education on the subject. I grew professionally inside Miami banks by securing positions in audit departments where I developed firsthand knowledge of the various facets of banking. In the early 90s I continued to grow professionally, shifting my focus towards the growing realm of financial technology. At the time, cutting edge technology consisted of personal computers which were still in their early stages of development, and there was a sharp learning curve for myself and my colleagues trying to understand how to use shared desktop terminals and PC's for the first time. My experience with technology within the financial sphere expanded in the late 90's and 2000's when I grew to develop a greater understanding of the role of software and how certain programs could be used in combination with advancing technology - that is, newer, faster desktop computers and laptops - to facilitate the implementation of infrastructure within institutions that could be used to both enhance operational efficiency, as well as create processes that could be utilized to ensure that institutions could comply with new and evolving regulatory requirements. The bulk of these regulations would come to be encompassed within the USA PATRIOT Act.

A thrilling, eye-popping look at true crime in the billion-dollar art world. The art world is one of the most secretive of global businesses, and the list of its crimes runs long and deep. Today, with prices in the hundreds of millions for individual artworks, and billionaires' collections among the most conspicuous and liquid of their assets, crime is more rampant than ever in this largely unregulated universe. Increased prices and globalization have introduced new levels of fraud and malfeasance into the art world--everything from "artnapping," in which an artwork is held hostage and only returned for a ransom, to forgery and tax fraud. However, the extent of the economic and cultural damage that results from criminality in the global art scene rarely comes to light. The stories of high-stakes, brazen art crimes told by art experts Stefan Koldehoff and Tobias Timm are by turns thrilling, disturbing, and unbelievable (the imagination for using art to commit crimes seems boundless). The authors also provide a well-founded analysis of what needs to change in the art market and at museums. From the authors of False Pictures, Real Money (about the Beltracchi art forgery case), Art and Crime includes a chapter on art owned by Donald Trump. It is a thoroughly researched, explosive, and highly topical book that uncovers the extraordinary and multifarious thefts of art and cultural objects around the world.

Art Law and the Business of Art is a comprehensive and practical guide to the application of UK law to transactions and disputes in the art world. Written by Martin Wilson, an art lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in the field, it outlines and explains the relevant law and how the art business operates in practice, as well as offering a discussion of the most pressing ethical questions involving artworks.

Find out how the world's best money launderers evade sohisticated high-tech detection measures and move money freely in the electronic age. Also find out the latest international law enforcement countermeasures for stopping this illegal flow of money. A must for cops, lawyers, PIs and others.

​The art world has been discovered by criminals as an effective way for money laundering and other clandestine activities on an international level. Unfortunately, in most countries investigators, prosecutors, judges, and regulatory agencies are not equipped to accurately detect, investigate and prosecute this type of criminal activity. Also, regulation and international laws and treaties involving the art world have many loopholes that can potentially lead to the laundering of large sums of money. This book provides a bird’s eye view of novel ways in which money laundering happens through illegal activities involving art. It can serve as a guide for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in efforts to curb money laundering and financing of terrorism, revealing why somehow new techniques used by criminals have been neglected by law enforcement in most countries. Drawing from his own experience with the matter in both Brazil and in the United States, the author makes a case for broader institutional and regulatory improvement, extending beyond mere regulation of the art market.

"This book lifts the lid on some of the excesses that the 21st-century explosion of the contemporary art market brought in its wake, notably at its very top end. The buying of art as an investment, temptations to forgery, tax evasion, money laundering and pressure to produce more and more art all form part of this story, as do issues over authentication and the impact of the enhanced use of financial instruments on art transactions. Drawing on a series of revealing interviews with artists, lawyers, dealers, law-enforcement agents, tax specialists and collectors, the author charts the voracious commodification of artists and art objects, and art's position in the clandestine puzzle of the highest echelons of global capital. Adam's revelations appear even timelier in the wake of the Panama Papers disclosures, for example incorporating examples of the way tax havens have been used to stash art transactions - and ownership - away from public scrutiny. Georgina Adam casts her judicious glance over a section of the art market whose controversies and intrigues will be of eye-opening interest to both art-world players and observers."--Publisher's description.

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