Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the increasing emphasis of the UK anti-money laundering (AML) legislative framework, on the financial arrangements of criminals. Our qualitative study engaged key stakeholders from the AML environment through a series of focus groups. This included law enforcement; accountants; prosecutors; bankers and, importantly, ex-offenders. We argue that the inclusion of the views of a traditionally hard to reach group of ex-offenders, adds significantly to knowledge and understanding about effectiveness of AML. The research findings suggest that, at first glance, the focus on asset recovery has been successful. However, our respondents shared with us areas of tension and inconsistencies in application of the law, in particular between police and the courts. For example, whether it was better to prosecute the predicate offence separately or in addition to the offence of money laundering; or whether to pursue criminal or civil recovery. We further find that criminals have been able to use their knowledge to circumvent the system, suggesting that greater effort is needed to promote cooperation, rather than competition, in successfully detecting and prosecuting offenders.
Highlights
The purpose of this paper is to examine the deterrence impact of the additional powers of asset recovery that Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) has provided to law enforcement and the extent to which this has enhanced anti-money laundering (AML)
Use is made of statistics drawn from official government23 and law enforcement records, with less emphasis on primary data gathered from experienced, knowledgeable AML stakeholders
The data presented here is organised in relation to two main areas: the first is in relation to ‘Asset Recovery and Sentencing Deterrent’; and the second concerning ‘Sophistication of Criminals - Criminal Knowledge’
Summary
None more so when the economic wellbeing of the country is at stake In such circumstances it would be hard not to agree that the state should be vested with greater powers with which to address potential harm. Money laundering is seen as posing an international global threat, amongst policy makers, facilitating serious and organised crime and undermining the integrity of the financial system3 [see 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. This ‘threat’ imagery has been discussed by academics [see for example, 7, 8] with respect to a potential negative impact on the economic wellbeing of the economy. Policy makers continue to place emphasis on the scale and threat of the problem [11] as a means of justifying the extensive legal and regulatory framework that has been constructed, and the UK is one of the most assiduous of believers in this threat mantra [12]
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