The whole world in their hands

In this year’s MLB series on the development of an international profession of anti-money laundering (AML) specialists, we have often examined the work of those at the sharp end, writes Alan Osborn, but that is not the whole story of course. Every profession has to work in a legal framework, and given money laundering is international in scope, it is no surprise that global organisations are of particular importance in this regard in the AML world. Here we look at the agenda setters.

Today, the three heavyweights in the AML sector are the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), together with the regional FATF spin-offs, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To be sure there are powerful thinkers on this subject in the larger financial intelligence units (FIUs), treasuries and banking/AML associations in some richer countries just as there are numerous influential academics and consultants. But the combination of good theory and practice needed to oversee and analyse global trends, draw up laws and methodologies and coordinate data and recommendations for national authorities to adopt is in the hands of a surprising small number of middle-ranking employees of the three organisations listed above. In all, probably fewer than 100 people are involved. They are drawn from very diverse backgrounds and often have little in common as regards training and qualifications outside their experience in AML work. But their jobs are to a large extent interchangeable and many hop backwards and forwards between global and national work and between the international organisations themselves. They know each other. They have a common purpose, and arguably the best minds at work in AML today are to be found within their ranks.