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This study aims to examine the effect of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliance on the degree of financial inclusion (FI) across 174 economies during the period from 2011 to 2021, including developed and developing countries.

This paper uses panel dynamic threshold regression to examine whether there is a threshold effect that exists in FATF compliance.

The findings show that FATF regulations enhance financial inclusiveness all over the world, but at the same time, FATF regulations regarding AML/CFT implications impose a high cost on financial institutions above the threshold of FATF compliance.

This study’s findings indicate that nations should undertake deliberate struggle to reduce the prevalence of money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing by putting in place effective FATF regulatory frameworks to support FI.

This study’s findings indicate that nations should undertake deliberate struggle to reduce the prevalence of ML and terrorism financing by putting in place effective FATF regulatory frameworks to support FI. Regulators must, however, guarantee that the process is cost-effective and efficient.

This paper aims to analyse the Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of Canada, Australia, The Netherlands and India, focussing on key internal and external processes, such as the exchange of information, operations and compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. The paper relies on secondary sources to compare and assess the practices and strategies employed by FIUs within these jurisdictions.

The paper relies on secondary sources to compare and assess the practices and strategies used by FIUs within these jurisdictions.

The ability to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) in countries is influenced by several internal and external factors, including the efficiency of their FIUs’ and compliance with FATF recommendations. The analysis of FIUs across the countries demonstrates a raft of multifaceted challenges and concerns. Yet, when it comes to compliance with FATF’s recommendations, shared concerns emerge, hinting at the complex interplay between country-specific operations and global compliance standards. The paper recommends enhancements to the FIUs’ operational efficiency and overall effectiveness in combating financial crimes.

The paper’s findings are limited to openly available data (such as annual reports and internet sources) for the respective countries. The paper relies on the transparency of FIUs through public media, focusing on comparing and analysing the FIUs of only four specific countries, which limits the generalisations of the findings.

This paper is significant for policymakers and FIU authorities, as they strive to improve the effectiveness of their units and assess their performance in alignment with international standards. The comparative analysis of the FIUs of India, Australia, Canada and The Netherlands provides valuable insights and recommendations that can inform policymakers and operational strategies towards enhancing how FIUs function globally.

This paper offers a unique comparative analysis of the FIUs of India, Australia, Canada and The Netherlands. Its findings have practical implications for policymakers and FIU authorities towards enhancing performance against international AML/CFT standards and promoting global cooperation.

This paper aims to examine the association between money laundering (ML)/terrorist financing (TF) risks (hereafter, money laundering risks) and democratic governance across 117 countries.

A cross-sectional design was used to examine the association between ML risks and democratic governance by a quantitative approach. The findings are based on annual ratings of 117 countries on ML/TF risks and democracy while controlling for criminality and peace. The data was compiled from the Basel Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Financing Terrorism Risks Index, the Economic Intelligence Unit (Democracy Index), the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crimes (Criminality Index) and the Institute for Economics and Peace Index for 2020.

A multiple linear regression model found a statistically significant negative association between democratic governance and ML risks (B = −0.354, t = −7.454, p = <0.001) and a significant positive association between criminality and ML risks (B = 0.242, t = 2.692, p = 0.008).

A cross-sectional design cannot determine causal inferences and generalization (Levin, 2006). The study only used a year to examine the hypothesis of a negative correlation between ML risks and democratic governance, thus making generalization difficult.

Extant literature examined ML, terrorism and AML diversely. There was a need to estimate the association between ML risks and democratic governance, especially globally, during a global crisis like COVID-19, when democratic principles, such as the rule of law, transparency and accountability, are challenged. Many personnel were laid off, thus limiting supervision for ML and TF. This study presents evidence of this association.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how agency conflicts between people and main government organs affect the combatting ability of white-collar money laundering in an emerging economy.

This paper uses a qualitative design under the philosophy of interpretivism. The case study research strategy is used inductively to investigate how structural limitations affect white-collar money laundering.

This study reveals that serious agency conflicts exist between public and main government organs which are detrimental to the rights of people to enjoy a crime-free society. First agency conflict of people and legislature intensifies as a result of limited understanding of the legislature and failure to take precautionary actions to develop an anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime with evolving global standards. This delay has resulted in identifying Sri Lanka as a deficient AML/CFT regime twice. The second conflicts arise between people and the executive which is a serious conflict due to misuse of statutory power and failure to perform duties. The independence and integrity of administrative authorities who perform executive functions were inherent problems of implementing a sound AML/CFT regime. Lack of monitoring, nonavailability of an independent audit and inappropriate reporting channels were other encouraging factors of administrative organs to misuse statutory power. The third conflict between people and the judiciary was not intensified because the function was not so exposed to create agency conflicts. After all, an adequate number of cases had not proceeded to the judiciary due to inherent limitations as a result of intensified first two agency conflicts. The agency conflicts have intensified over the years and AML/CFT regime has been ineffective as a result of limited influence and understanding of the principal, people. Therefore, the principal has to influence the agents to make reforms in the AML/CFT regime to make the country a white-collar crime-free country.

This study uses a case study strategy to assess the context of Sri Lanka as an emerging economy. It is recommended to take into consideration the contextual facts when the findings are applied to other jurisdictions.

This paper is an original work of the authors which discusses how agency conflicts arise between people and three main government organs in implementing a sound AML/CFT regime in Sri Lanka as an emerging economy.

This study aims to investigate the impact of FinTech on money laundering within the context of Nigeria. The motivation stems from observations suggesting that FinTech platforms might be used for illicit money transfers, particularly from developed to developing economies. While existing literature predominantly highlights the positive aspects of FinTech, there's a dearth of studies addressing its potential association with money laundering. Current understanding of this relationship relies heavily on anecdotal evidence derived from reported or convicted cases. Thus, the primary goal of this study is to analyze the influence of FinTech on money laundering while also considering the moderating effects of financial regulation and financial literacy as perceived by users. The research delves into regulatory perspectives concerning money laundering and FinTech.

To fulfill the study's objectives, a quantitative research design is used. A survey of 248 FinTech users in Nigeria is conducted using structured questionnaires. Data collected from the questionnaires is analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The quantitative analysis revealed a significant relationship between FinTech and money laundering and that financial regulation moderates the relationship between FinTech and money laundering in Nigeria, but such was not established with respect to financial literacy. The results of the quantitative approach that uses secondary data are consistent with the qualitative approach. FinTech the results indicate the presence of technology induced money laundering in Nigeria. Regulating technology-based anti-money laundering poses serious challenges for developing countries due to the absence of specific laws that mitigate the threats.

The paper focuses on Nigeria as a case study, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other countries with different FinTech ecosystems, regulatory frameworks and financial literacy levels.

The finding is useful in developing guidelines and regulations by policymakers and strategies by practitioners in relation to FinTech, money laundering, financial regulation and financial literacy. On the basis of the above, the authors recommend regulation at the national and industry level to mitigate the adverse effect of technology on money laundering. Thus, multilateral partnerships can help in tackling tech-induced money laundering through strengthened cooperation.

Money laundering risks: The study highlights that FinTech, while beneficial, also poses significant risks for money laundering activities, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Regulatory Importance: It emphasizes the critical role of financial regulations in mitigating the risks associated with FinTech and money laundering. Financial Literacy: The paper suggests that financial literacy does not significantly moderate the relationship between FinTech and money laundering, indicating the need for stronger regulatory measures rather than relying solely on financial literacy. Policy Formulation: The findings are crucial for policymakers to formulate strategies that balance the benefits of FinTech with the need to prevent money laundering and ensure financial system integrity.

This research presents a novel approach to methodology, specifically focusing on the qualitative research design, addressing population, sampling techniques and data collection methods. It emphasizes techniques aimed at ensuring measurement quality and achieving research objectives. Data collection used survey questionnaires, while analysis involved both statistical package for social science (SPSS) and PLS-SEM. SPSS facilitated descriptive and preliminary analyses, while PLS-SEM confirmed measurement quality and tested hypotheses. Ethical considerations were paramount throughout the research process, underscoring the commitment to maintaining originality in research endeavors.

Tax evasion and money laundering have become important sources of illicit financial flows in developing countries. Foreign capital flows used by shell corporates are generally with no real economic activities but motivated by harmful tax practices, thereby inducing loss of revenue for developing countries. Despite the coercive actions, such as backlisting of noncooperative jurisdictions to anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing standards, illicit financial activities are still eroding the tax base in developing countries. The purpose of the paper is to assess the blacklisting effectiveness as a coercive policy against illicit financial activities.

This paper applies a propensity score matching strategy to a sample of 118 developing jurisdictions from 2009 to 2017 to evaluate changes in illicit financial activities following the blacklisting.

The results show that rather than altering illicit inflows in blacklisted countries, financial restrictions have produced the inverse, causing a boomerang effect on financial crime activities. The illicit share of capital inflows increases on average by 6 percentage points and 0.7% of GDP following the blacklisting. These results are robust to alternative matching methods and to the hidden bias problem.

Most of the previous research analyzed the link between blacklisting and fiscal revenues. However, here, the study analyzes whether blacklisting makes countries more cooperative in terms of fighting illicit financial flows.

This study aims to determine the applicability of the placement-layering-integration model of money laundering (ML) in the South Asian context with emphasis on Pakistan by analysing different ML typologies.

This study applied content analysis in the first step. It explored three primary documents concerning ML typologies: Asia Pacific Group’s yearly reports on ML typologies from 2010 to 2021, the mutual evaluation reports and the National Risk Assessment of Pakistan. In the second step, expert interviews were recorded, and NVivo was used for data management and analysis.

This study found primary predicate offences: corruption, tax crimes, smuggling and drug and human trafficking. Pakistani launderers often use traditional typologies, including cash smuggling, round-tripping, multiple bank accounts, investment in real estate (in Pakistan and Dubai) and hawala. However, cybercrimes, cyber laundering and trade-based ML are rising. The politically exposed persons are involved in most of the laundering cases.

Rare studies specifically address the south Asian typologies and the limitations of the placement, layering and integration model. Therefore, there is a need to understand the current typologies used in developing, less regulated and undocumented jurisdictions like Pakistan.

This study aims to investigate the impact of terrorism on financial inclusion that is achieved through automated teller machine penetration and bank branch expansion.

Eight countries that are the most terrorized countries in the world were analysed using the panel fixed effect regression model and the generalized linear model.

The results provide evidence that terrorism reduces the level of financial inclusion in countries experiencing terrorism, but the presence of strong legal institutions, accountability governance institutions and political stability governance institutions mitigate the adverse effect of terrorism on financial inclusion.

A growing literature has shown that terrorism affects the economy, yet little is known about its impact on financial inclusion.

Due to their particular nature, virtual assets (VA) are vulnerable to financial crimes such as money laundering and if the appropriate legal mechanisms are not established, this may result in the financial collapse of various economies. To this effect, best practices and standards have been published by some international organisations such as the Financial Action Task Force and IMF which are now domesticated in the national laws of several countries. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyse the anti-money laundering (AML) legislative framework in the context of VA in three countries, namely, Mauritius, Japan and South Africa.

To achieve the research objective, the Mauritian AML laws in the context of VA were compared with the corresponding laws of some other countries, namely, Japan and South Africa. As such, a qualitative research method was adopted. In particular, the black letter approach was used to examine the relevant laws of these countries. A comparative analysis was conducted concerning the relevance of AML laws for each country when dealing with VA with the view of suggesting recommendations for Mauritian stakeholders to adopt to enhance the existing AML legal and regulatory framework.

The comparative study conducted has revealed that there are both similarities and divergences among the AML framework of the three countries further to which this research recommends that the Mauritian laws must be amended concerning the duration of information storage on VA, the definition of VA, advertisement by VA service providers and the electronic submission of annual reports. The Mauritian regulatory bodies also need to play a more active role in their joint collaboration to monitor suspicious VA transactions to combat money laundering.

At present, this study will be among the first academic writings on the efficiency of AML laws in the context of VA in Mauritius and also, because existing literature is quite scarce on assessing the adequacy of AML legislation in developing countries, this research aims at filling in the gap in literature. This study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics.