Extra-territorial money laundering legislation: criminal sanction, deterrence, and the African PEP

Abstract

Many of the provisions of the major international conventions on money laundering concluded by Western-dominated international agencies have rightly metamorphosed into anti-money laundering domestic criminal legislation in several African countries. It is the contention of this paper that this development has happened only haphazardly, and it has been mainly at the prodding of Western financial institutions and donor agencies. African leaders themselves have shown little enthusiasm for the raft of legislations being encouraged (and in many cases enacted) as useful tools in prosecuting cases of money laundering involving politically exposed persons (PEPs). It is further contended that the reason for this antipathy lies in the fact that although these legislations have been construed on universal principles, they have ipso-facto, been construed outside the socio-legal context of the African PEP.