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The purpose of this study is to provide a timely synthesis of the empirical literature focusing on the economic consequences of money laundering, as this topic has been gaining momentum among policymakers and academic researchers due to its adverse effects.

Empirical studies are collected by consulting accounting and finance journals in diverse digital sources (e.g. Science Direct, Blackwell, Taylor and Francis, Springer, Sage and Emerald). Key words used to identify relevant papers include “money laundering” and “anti-money laundering regulations,” with specific focus on the economic consequences. Our search strategy includes 24 published papers over the period of 2018–2023.

Findings show that most studies represent cross-country investigations; the main topics investigated focus on accounting field (e.g. audit fees, real and accrual earnings management), tax evasion, financial stability, sustainability, economic indicators (inflation, economic growth, foreign direct investment) and financial inclusion; and the economic consequences of money laundering have been also examined within banking industry (e.g. banking profitability, banking stability). Reported findings of reviewed studies suggest that money laundering has diverse adverse impacts at the country level (e.g. increased tax evasion, higher inflation rate, less sustainability and foreign direct investments), at the firm level (e.g. increased audit risk and aggressive real and accrual earnings management) and within banking industry through negative impact of money laundering on bank’s loan portfolio quality, stability and profitability.

With respect to policymakers, strengthening anti-money laundering regulations may play a critical role in reducing money laundering activities. Furthermore, financial institutions should implement specific rules dealing with anti-money regulations to ensure adequate compliance and disclosure. Finally, policymakers should be aware about the importance of digital transformation to combat money laundering activities since it facilitates the detection of financial crimes due to their traceability.

The summary of the empirical literature focusing on the economic consequence of money laundering represents a historical record and an introduction for accounting researchers. It also urges them to further explore the economic implications of anti-money laundering disclosure within banking industry.

The aim of the present study is to shed light on the role of legal practitioners, namely, lawyers and notaries, in the fight against money laundering: Are they considered as facilitators or obstacles against money laundering? How does the global and the EU legal framework deal with the legal professionals?

The research follows a deductive approach attempting to respond to questions such as: How do the lawyers’ and notaries’ societies react in front of the anti-money laundering measures that concern them and why? What are the discrepancies between the lawyers’ professional secrecy and the obligations that EU anti-money laundering legislation assigns them?

This study disclosures the response of the European union and international legal and regulatory framework as well as the reflexes of the international and European legal professionals’ associations to this danger. It also demonstrates the reaction of lawyers against European union anti-money laundering legislation, to the point that it limits not only the confidentiality principle but also the position of the European judicial systems to the contradiction between this principle and the lawyers’ obligation to report their suspicions to the authorities.

To fulfil the study goals, it was necessary to overcome some obstacles, like the limitation of existing sources. Indeed, transnational empirical research considering the professionals who facilitate money laundering is narrow. Besides, policymakers and academics only recently expressed more interest in money laundering and its facilitators.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study the legal professionals’ role not only in money laundering practices but also in anti-money laundering policies.

This study aims to investigate the behavior of investigating officers in performance of their official duties of conducting inquiries and investigations of money laundering cases and their views about real problems and issues encountered during such investigations.

In total, 15 interviews were conducted with Inland Revenue Service (IRS) investigating officers and money laundering experts, whose responses were subjected to qualitative content analysis. Observation method was also used by the researcher during the whole process of investigation in multiple cases of money laundering investigations. Rationale for conducting qualitative study is to acquire original information from respondents which may not have been possible through a closed-ended questionnaire.

Findings of the study reveal that change in the behavior of investigating officers may result in better performance by way of conducting money laundering investigations in an effective and efficient manner. And the behavior of investigating officers may be changed by addressing the problems and issues encountered by them while at work and conducting anti money laundering investigations, better performance of investigating officers may result in better performance of investigating agency which may portray better image of the government in combating against terrorism financing and money laundering.

Findings of the study are limited to the perspectives of 15 interviewees. For this reason, it is probable that a study with a larger sample conducted in other offices of IRS Intelligence as well as other investigating agencies could have provided different or more concrete results.

Evidently, the addressal of such issues may invariably enhance the effective enforcement of money laundering activities by way of improving the performance of investigating officers in performance of their duties relating to money laundering investigations. It also provides legislators and money laundering investigating agencies with valuable insight into the whole process of money laundering investigations and challenges encountered by investigating officers. By enhanced understanding the specific problems of investigations, the enabling authorities should be able to more effectively combat both money laundering and terrorism financing.

This is the first study, to the best of the author’s knowledge, which tries to explain the behavior of investigating officer toward their work and their perceived understanding of the problems being faced while conducting investigations in money laundering.

Criminals have quickly discovered the advantage of crypto assets, with its pseudo-anonymity, untraceability and the ability to freely exchange crypto assets across borders, which makes it an ideal tool for money laundering activities. Switzerland has a technology-neutral framework, and crypto assets are regulated by the existing anti-money laundering (AML) legislation. The purpose of this paper is to gain insights into the industry adoption of measurements to prevent money laundering through crypto assets and if they are compliant with national and international AML regulations.

Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with participants having expertise in compliance, AML and crypto assets with focus on Switzerland. The interviews were analyzed using the thematic analysis.

The experts have a general consensus that Switzerland is a pioneer when it comes to regulating crypto assets. It is perceived that legislations are released without industry consultation and that AML processes for fiat transactions also work for crypto assets, which is not the case. The results show that the industry wants a consortium to fight money laundering in crypto assets in Switzerland. The current measures to identify money laundering are not optimal, yet, it is the best solution and according to national and international regulations the businesses are perceived to be compliant.

This paper offers new insights on the challenges of AML regulations in crypto assets, given the limited information available. It also provides good practice examples for addressing these challenges, benefiting policymakers, regulators and practitioners in the crypto asset ecosystem.

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.

The purpose of this study is to provide a bibliometric analysis of the Journal of Money Laundering and Control (JMLC) from 2010 to 2021 and map its way forward.

A range of bibliometric techniques have been used to analyse the performance of JMLC from Volume 14 (Issue 1) to Volume 24 (Issue 4). The Scopus database has been used to analyse the documents of JMLC. A total of 294 documents are reviewed. The bibliographic data has been analysed using the software VOS viewer and R-studio (Biblioshine) to assess the trend of publications, word growth, keyword co-occurrence, citation analysis, most prolific authors and authors’ impact.

JMLC’s academic contributions, influence and impact have grown progressively. The thematic structure of the journal has evolved into six bibliographic clusters, noted as prevention of corruption due to money laundering; compliance and regulation of money laundering; customer due diligence; role of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the financial system of developing countries; control of terrorism and terrorist financing; and role of money laundering in the proceeds of crime.

The constraint of this endeavour largely arises from its selection of bibliographic data being confined to Scopus.

The results of the study would help the current and future authors to understand the emerging themes in the field of money laundering and control. They are also going to help the editors of the journals of this domain to understand the emerging themes and how the published documents are going to contribute the society, throwing light on the controlling and compliance part of money laundering. Future research directions are provided in tackling the problem of money laundering, corruption, terrorism, crime, etc. with the help of financial intelligence, strong FATF all around the world, machine learning, Bitcoin exchange management and global knowledge management.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first objective assessment of the journal. Thus, the results of the study are useful to past and prospective authors, editorial board members, editors, readers and reviewers to gain a one-stop understanding of anti-money laundering actions through the contributions of JMLC.

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 global cooperation and cooperation between nations at differing stages in anti-money laundering (AML) is critical. To improve the effectiveness of international cooperation in AML, it is essential to diversify international cooperation mechanisms and improve the capacity of law enforcement officers in the field of preventing this crime. This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of mutual legal assistance (MLA) and extradition within the AML legal framework in Palestine and Malaysia. It investigates the gaps and weaknesses in Palestine’s AML legal framework and offers recommendations to address them.

The present paper is solely legal. The method adopted in this research paper is qualitative research with an emphasis on the doctrinal mechanism. As a result, it concentrates on procedures, protocols, legislation and policies.

The Malaysian AML legal framework offers a clearer and more comprehensive framework for MLAs and extradition than the Palestinian AML legal framework. This framework is supported by laws that meet the basic requirements to support the issues of AML international cooperation. Both countries agree that the absence of a “bilateral or multilateral agreement” is not considered a reason for rejecting international cooperation in the field of AML with foreign countries. Moreover, the Malaysian AML legal framework divides the roles well between the law enforcement agencies and the competent authorities competing to Palestine.

This paper would be beneficial for the Palestinian legislative, policymakers and law enforcement agencies to make international cooperation, especially with MLAs and extradition effective.

This study aims to examine the possibility of laundering money through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the perceived risk and the stark reality. That money laundering prevention mechanisms are being circumvented is evident by reference to the international assessments by the Financial Action Task Force and information from key informants. To develop effective improvements, the modus operandi of money laundering needs to be re-examined.

The empirical findings are based on over 60 semi-standardized interviews with alleged criminal and expert compliance officers operating in an international arena. These findings were subject to a qualitative content analysis, while a further quantitative survey of around 200 compliance officers expanded on the techniques of money laundering. This served to explore whether there was a discrepancy between the presentation of money laundering in the literature in contrast to reality.

Owing to the transnational nature of money laundering, the global financial market is dependent on the uniformity of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Despite immense progress, there are still several key weaknesses in the financial system of the UAE, such as the existence of Free Zones and the divergence of AML awareness.

The scope of the interviews is limited to the personal experience of the informants. This is mediated by seeking uniformity in answers as well as literature support.

This paper, supported by empirical evidence, discerns why the current regulatory measures are minimally effective. There is an unmistakable need for the international coordination of financial regulatory bodies. The literature describes the occurrence of money laundering, but no studies have engaged to examine the pragmatic mechanism in place which allow money laundering to persevere despite the significant improvements of AML policies.

This paper aims to critically examine the European Union’s legislative initiative to establish an Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will introduce union-level supervision and provide support to national supervisors in the field of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), as well as to financial intelligence units (FIUs) in European Union (EU) member states. The paper discusses why this initiative was deemed necessary, which are the key objectives, rules and principles of AMLA and which challenges and opportunities will emerge as AMLA becomes operational.

This paper draws on reports, legislation, legal scholarship and other open-source data on the EU legislative initiative to establish a new AMLA.

AMLA will provide a comprehensive framework for EU-level AML/CFT supervision and for cooperation among FIUs. If all organisational challenges are properly addressed, the new authority will significantly enhance the EU’s ability to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine the mission, governance and supervision mechanisms of the EU’s AMLA, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with its functioning.