The UN defines money laundering as “any act or attempted act to disguise the source of funds derived from a criminal activity” . Money laundering is a global phenomenon. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime approximates that between 800 billion - 2 trillion US dollars are laundered each year globally, this represents approximately 2% - 5% of the global GDP . The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was formed in 1989 to combat international money laundering . Due to this, countries have now become more vigilant in their banking polices. Anti-money laundering in Canada has been a constant game of catch up. Over the past ten years, Canada has seen a steady increase in money laundering cases. In 2011, the …show more content…
Although, there are many governmental and inter-governmental bodies designed to combat the rise of money laundering, it is still a major issue in our global economy. This essay will explore the problems with money laundering, the financial institution’s role, and how Canada and other countries are combatting it.
Money laundering is the process in which money generated from criminal activities is disguised and moved into the financial system. In order for criminals to benefit from their crime proceeds, the funds have to be mixed into the financial system and given the illusion that they were legally obtained. The money laundering process is very complex and is done in a number of ways. The traditional money laundering process is done in three steps: placement, layering, integration. Firstly, the placement stage is where the criminal moves the money to a less-suspicions secure location. An example of this can be smuggling funds across borders or opening safety deposit boxes in an alias name. Secondly, the layering stage is …show more content…
The rise of international organized crime and the expansion of the global financial system have given criminals a way to finance criminal activity all over the world. Criminals are always looking for new place to launder their money and they often turn to developing countries. Developing countries are more attractive to criminals as they do not have the vigorous anti-money laundering regulations that exist in developed countries. Developing countries often tend to be more corrupt than their developed counterparts, thus it is easy to bribe government officials to get what you want . Money laundering can have detrimental effects on developing countries. The stimulation of growth in a developing economy is often fuelled by foreign investment. In order to encourage foreign investment there has to be confidence and integrity in the economy. A country that is known for corruption is often not the place where foreigners are looking to invest