Experts at hand – the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

All too often it is those jurisdictions that face the strongest threat from money laundering which are least equipped to deal with the problem. The UNODC has responded to this dilemma with practical, hands-on initiatives that are making a real difference on the ground. Alan Osborn reports.

It is commonly acknowledged that, whatever its merits, the globalisation of world trade and commerce brings with it vastly enhanced opportunities for money laundering. As the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) points out, in an online report explaining its work, the world-wide spread of inter-connected financial markets greatly extends the range of countries where anti-money laundering (AML) controls are absent or embryonic and enforcement is weak “and unfortunately, many countries particularly those classified as emerging markets, fall into this category.” At the same time there’s been an increasing involvement of professionals to carry out money laundering functions in recent years “not only to conceal the origin of the source of the proceeds, but to manage the subsequent investment into assets such as real estate, stock, bonds or legitimate businesses.” The clear implication of the UNODC memorandum is that the fight against money laundering has itself to take on a global character and has to strengthen institutions and laws worldwide if the crime is to be properly tackled.