Evolution of methods of money laundering in Latin America

Abstract

Introduces the measures taken in South America’s Spanish, Portuguese and French speaking countries, and in the Spanish‐speaking Caribbean, to create a framework for combating money laundering; despite this, the outcome has been poor in terms of money laundering cases prosecuted, and the black economy in the four main drug producing countries is estimated as worth around US$13 billion a year. Gives a table of 39 money laundering schemes, indicating the effectiveness of each, and outlines trends in avoidance: avoiding the use of cash, development in methods of risk and control, and techniques based on penetration or control, like the “black market peso exchange” between the USA and Colombia. Moves on to improvements made by financial institutions and authorities against money laundering, based on three elements: expanding the application of “know your customer”, analysing use of services by customers, and establishing a reliable monitoring system for suspicious transactions.