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Purpose: In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the compliance unit’s role in mediating the electronic government’s role in money laundering. E-government is clarified as the application of Information technology to encourage access and transfer of all aspects of government amenities and operations that impact transparency and accountability for the benefit of the people, trades, workforces and other stakeholders. The current study aims to assess whether the e-government can lessen or counterbalance the risks related to money laundering in the country and the mediating role of the compliance unit in reducing money laundering.

Methodology: This study practices structural modelling to assess the direct linkage between e-government and anti-money laundering and the indirect path between e-government and anti-money laundering that passes through the compliance unit as a mediator.

Findings: The findings prove that the compliance unit fully mediates the relationship between E-government and anti-money laundering. The direct path shows an insignificant relationship between e-government and money laundering, but this association becomes significant when the compliance unit is brought as a mediator.

Originality: This study directs that e-government runs on a sustainable ICT platform to improve transparency and accountability of all aspects of government facilities and actions for sustainable economic goals and help to diminish money laundering by enhancing transparency and accountability of government administration.

Purpose: This chapter aims to evaluate the impact of money laundering and terrorism financing on the Indian economy and to study the effectiveness of prevention of money laundering acts and terrorist financing as per the guidance of the financial protection task force.

Need for the study: Developing countries like India have been more vulnerable to terrorism and financial scams over the last four decades. Despite the establishment of regulating bodies and anti-money laundering acts, this problem continued to be a national threat. Therefore, examining the impact of money laundering and terrorism finance on the Indian economy is necessary.

Methodology: This study is based on secondary data gathered from the web portals of government agencies and international organisations dealing with money laundering and terror funding. Newspapers, journals, and annual reports are reviewed to identify the modus operandi of money laundering operators and their impact on the economy.

Findings: Money laundering and terrorism financing significantly threaten the Indian economy and national security. Despite different anti-money laundering laws and multiple regulating authorities, the system has pitfalls that allow economic fraud and money transactions for terrorist activities. There is a need for cyber security, and integrated enforcement agencies to combat money laundering at national and international levels.

Practical implications: This study would be helpful for academicians and policymakers to understand the nexus of money laundering and terrorism financing and its impacts on the Indian economy.

The emerging market economies, in particular, have become victim to the laundering activities which have damaged investment potentials, undermined governance, fostered crime and corruption, and decreased tax revenues. In this chapter, we construct a macrotheoretic framework to analyze money laundering in the form of tax evasion by individuals in an economy in the events of financial autarky and free trade. In other words, our theoretical model allows us to examine if movement from autarky to a state of financial integration whets the degree of financial malpractice like money laundering.

Corruption can take many forms. One of the most alarming aspects of corruption has been the impact of money laundering on financial markets. The amount of money laundered in the Asian region is estimated at approximately $200 billion, or one-fifth the global total. Some of the Asia-Pacific countries still lack any consistent anti-money laundering legislation. The Asia-Pacific region is also home to five of the six remaining non-cooperative countries and territories on The Financial Action Task Force's 2004 list. In this paper, I present a clinical examination of the impact of money laundering and Off-shore financial centres on Asian Pacific financial markets. I describe the money laundering cycle, tools and techniques utilized in the Asia-Pacific region as well as anti-money laundering measures and regulation.

Purpose: This study aims to employ bibliometric analysis to condense multiple studies into a single publication that not only gives insights into the growth and advancement of the research area but also establishes a future research agenda. This study provides a summary of advances in academic research on money laundering. The research includes bibliometric analysis and visualisation of bibliographic data using the Scopus database. The results of the study show that there has been a significant increase in the number of publications in the field of money laundering research, with topics focussed on specific areas. This study will also benchmark existing and preliminary themes, designs, and methodological choices for future money laundering research.

Methodology: With the help of the ‘visualisation of similarities’ (VOS) viewer open-source software, bibliometric analysis was performed using Scopus data. Citation analysis, topic mapping, country collaboration, co-citation analysis, and keyword co-occurrence analysis are some of the approaches used in bibliometric analysis.

Findings: Based on a bibliometric analysis of 1,391 research papers retrieved from the Scopus database over the past three decades (1990–2021), the study identified the most prominent authors, studies, journals, affiliations, and countries in the field of money laundering, as well as the most co-cited authors and journals. The writers also highlight future study issues in the field of money laundering.

Practical implications: The study’s findings might provide academics and practitioners with information on the present state of money laundering research and trend subjects. It can also be used as a guideline for identifying possible research gaps in the existing literature.

Money laundering and terrorism financing are financial crimes which affect the economic stability and integrity of the country. In this respect, the relevant regulator has a duty to preserve and protect the financial stability of the country. This duty is in line with the concept of the protection of wealth (hifz al-mal) under the maqāsid al-Sharīʿah or higher objectives of Islamic law framework. The objective of this chapter is to examine the protection of wealth vis-á-vis money laundering and terrorism financing from the maqāsid al-Sharīʿah perspective. This study analyses the primary and secondary legal sources on the laws and regulations on anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism while also considering the primary and secondary sources of Islamic law. This study is significant as it makes an exploration of the maqāsid al-Sharīʿah perspectives and discusses the position of unlawful wealth that is acquired from the illicit gain of property from the abuse of money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. This chapter suggests that Islamic law emphasises on the lawful ownership of wealth and prohibits a person from acquiring illicit wealth. This study will contribute towards the study on the deployment of maqāsid al-Sharīʿah, which is beneficial in safeguarding an individual action as well as the country’s commitment against abuse and misuse of wealth for financial crimes.

This chapter attempts to clarify and describe the legal and regulatory framework for cryptocurrency with special focus on Malaysia and the threats that it poses from the anti-money laundering perspective. Currently, very few countries have legislations that regulate cryptocurrency. Nonetheless, the crazy surge in prices (to more than 20-folds at some point) has sent both legitimate investors and criminals flocking to cryptocurrencies. This chapter analyses and compares the official reports from various governments, writings of government officials, experts and scholars in journals and newspapers, interviews and draws conclusions on the legal framework of cryptocurrency, and money laundering challenges. The study notes that the decision of the US regulators in allowing Bitcoin futures to trade on major exchanges to be one of the reasons behind the sudden surge. The study also finds that the South Korean regulators’ approach in banning its financial institutions from dealing with virtual currency is a positive one. The chapter stresses that it is not adequate for regulators to warn the public to act with extreme caution and increase their understanding on the risks they take on if they choose to invest in cryptocurrencies. Instead, it is necessary to have comprehensive international and national laws and regulations for the control and management of cryptocurrencies. In addition, the anti-money laundering legal framework must be improved to cater to the new threats posed by cryptocurrency.

Purpose: The study’s objective is to look at the link between money laundering and economic and financial performance, emphasising the effectiveness of the literature and possible later research directions using science mapping, which allows for scientific knowledge analysis.

Need for the Study: This study is related to a better understanding of the field’s historical evolution in terms of publications.

Methodology: This study used bibliometric approaches to analyse a sample of 660 studies from the Web of Science between 1994 and 2022, concentrating on keywords, author, paper, journal, and subject analysis. This study focused on performance analysis and scientific mapping of articles using the R package.

Findings: The empirical results indicated that the research field’s primary issues include corporate governance, fraud, machine learning, fraud detection, financial fraud, financial statement, corruption, earnings management, ethics, governance, financial reporting, bankruptcy, internal control, or performance. M. S. Beasly, D. B. Farber, E. M. Fich, R. Romano, and A. Shivdasani are the most well-known authors on the issue of money laundering and financial and economic performance. At the same time, the most typical journals are the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Money Laundering Control, Accounting Review, Journal of Financial Economics, and Journal of Corporate Finance.

Practical Implications: This study will act as a guide for researchers of various fields to evaluate the development of scientific publications in a particular theme over time, especially for those who are in the field of money laundering and financial performance.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Thematic Review of Banking & Insurance sectors conducted by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in 2013 indicated that oversight functions are still inadequate in the areas of compliance, internal audit, board of directors and senior management. The oversight functions refer to the AML/CFT compliance programme, which financial institutions, including Islamic banks, are obliged to execute as a part of mitigating activities against money laundering and terrorist financing. The main purpose of this chapter is to analyse whether there is any improvement in the oversight functions at the Islamic banks in Malaysia since the release of the thematic review report by BNM on 17 September 2014. This research is important as penalty for non-compliance under Section 22 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA) is severe. Section 22 of AMLATFPUAA entails personal responsibility on the compliance officer of an Islamic bank and not the reporting institution as a whole. Qualitative research method via interview is employed to gauge the extent of Islamic banks’ adherence to AML/CFT compliance programme. This chapter is significant as it provides Islamic banks and future researchers with the details of the compliance study as well as the current status of AML/CFT compliance programme within the Islamic banks in Malaysia.