Disadvantages Of Money Laundering

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Legal and Practical Disadvantages of Money Laundering as a Specific Crime in International Law
There are problems which international AML laws could cause in practice, despite the fact that there are also many advantages in handling money laundering. The disadvantages are important to investigate to comprehend why some States are not combating money laundering as well as other States. The advantages highlight the requirement for States to comply with international AML laws and the consequences if they do not comply with them effectively.
Disadvantages.
There are various legal disadvantages and problems which law enforcement agencies could encounter as a result of international AML laws. Primarily, there would be numerous errors in municipal …show more content…

Unfortunately, it is not possible to accomplish uniformity in the regulation of financial institutions, as each State has its own financial regulator which may vary in their approach to ensuring compliance. In this manner, universal AML laws, if uniformly executed, can ignore the important differences between States, respective regulatory regimes and sanctions.
The problem of having international AML laws is that it can lead to corresponding international sanctions and the threat that “sanctions [may] have to be applied to whole nations rather than to individuals” ( Freeman, 2008 ). In addition to this, harder laws may mean longer screening procedures and more careful investigations to meet the Know Your Client prerequisite. In this manner, legitimate investors may not react well to such interrogation. Successful prosecutions in States as a result of international AML law could result in “an anti-investment climate locally”(Mugarura, 2011, p. 2). …show more content…

Corruption in States undermines the international AML regimes through the formation of “financial secrecy havens” (Boister, 2012, p. 101). Specific States may give “legal guarantees of bank secrecy and weak regulation” (Boister, 2012, p. 101), which thus abandons endeavours to accomplish international cooperation and uniformity of domestic regulatory rules. The money laundering offences committed by Nigerian Governor, James Ibori, and the laundering of over £1bn by Nigeria’s former President, Sani Abacha, both serve as a constant reminder that the individuals who are implementing the laws are themselves not complying with

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