Summary

In order to combat money laundering effectively, different efforts are being made at the world-wide and EU level. From a global perspective, the core body responsible set up in response to mounting concern over money laundering, is the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). In its 40 Recommendations, it sets out the measures national governments should take to implement effective anti-money laundering programmes. On the EU side, the main piece of legislation is Directive 91/308. Its current modification is identified as one of the priority goals of the Financial Services Action Plan. These changes relate to the concept of serious offences, the scope of the Directive, non face-to-face operations and co-operation between the Commission and the national authorities. In conjunction with these efforts, the financial services industry is collaborating intensively with law-makers and police bodies in order to combat money laundering.

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INTRODUCTION

The laundering of money is the processing of criminal proceeds to disguise their illegal origin, a process of critical importance as it enables the criminal to enjoy these profits without jeopardizing their source. Since money laundering is an international problem, international co-operation is of the utmost importance in the fight against it.

In response to mounting concern over money laundering, the G7 Summit established in 1989 the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) to develop a co-ordinated international response. One of the first tasks of the FATF was to develop 40 Recommendations, which set out the measures national governments should take to implement effective anti-money laundering programmes.