International commercial arbitrator addressing money laundering sua sponte

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the existing legal basis, and its practical application, of an arbitrator’s competence to raise on her own initiative money laundering issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The research focusses on presenting the essence of the problem through evaluation of the legal basis for the arbitrators to raise money laundering concerns on their own initiative and the examples of so being done in international commercial arbitration.

Findings

This paper concludes that arbitrators do not presently have a solid legal basis that authorises them to act sua sponte against money laundering.

Originality/value

The originality and value of this paper lies in its emphasis on theoretical and practical issues related to money laundering in international commercial arbitration. It argues in favour of an explicit recommendation to be incorporated in the 2012 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that international commercial arbitrators address money laundering on their own initiative.

Citation

Kolarov, T. (2022), "International commercial arbitrator addressing money laundering sua sponte", Journal of Money Laundering Control, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 637-644. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-05-2021-0052