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This paper aims to explore the obstacles that the ethical guidelines of legal professionals pose in the implementation of an effective anti-money laundering regime, established in the law on anti-money laundering in Indonesia. Some compliance schemes have been developed to integrate the participation of gatekeepers in anti-money laundering efforts, but the solution to mitigate the challenges must be implemented through the participation of the legal profession.

The study uses a qualitative research methodology, including a triangulation of interviews with relevant experts, literature review and analysis of regulations. A deductive approach is employed to analyse the data.

The legal profession’s ethical regulations and laws were considered to be the cause for the Indonesian Government’s inability to implement the anti-money laundering regime. The findings show two practical solutions that could be implemented: A government policy for the amendment of the anti-money laundering law and organizational policy to increase support for the anti-money laundering regime; and active participation of legal professionals in an effective anti-money laundering regime in Indonesia.

This study provides insight into the participation of the legal profession in anti-money laundering efforts.

This paper aims to explore the role of the financial intelligence unit in Tanzania in fighting against money laundering and its predicate offences, examine its potential in controlling the problem and describe factors that undermine its efficacy.

The doctrinal research approach is used to analyse Tanzania’s anti-money laundering law and appraise its effectiveness in facilitating operations of the financial intelligence unit in fighting against money laundering and its predicate offences. The law-in-context approach is applied to interrogate the anti-money laundering law and describe non-law factors that impinge on the efficiency of Tanzania’s financial intelligence unit.

The law vests the financial intelligence unit with powers to perform a number of functions that are significant in fighting against money laundering and its predicate offences in Tanzania. The unit has been instrumental in curbing money laundering. The efficacy of this anti-money laundering agency, which is at its infancy stage, is emasculated by law-related, institutional and non-law factors. These factors undercut the potency of the agency.

There is a need for Tanzania to undertake policy, legislative and institutional reforms to augment the efficacy of the financial intelligence unit. The reforms should be implemented concurrently with other measures, which will enhance the country’s anti-money money laundering regime.

This paper applies the legal and non-law perspectives to evaluate the effectiveness of the financial intelligence unit as an essential component of Tanzania’s anti-money laundering regime. It proposes law-related and non-law approaches to augment the efficiency of the unit and the country’s anti-money laundering regime in general.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the balance between anti-money laundering reporting obligations and the doctrine of advocate–client confidentiality for legal practitioners.

The methodology adopted for this research is secondary research and analysis.

The doctrine of confidentiality between advocates and clients and reporting obligations under the anti-money laundering regime are relevant issues today more than ever. The equitable doctrine of confidentiality seeks to protect confidential information provided by one party to another in circumstances that import an obligation not to disclose that information or to use it for unauthorised purposes. The Constitution guarantees fair trial. Money laundering is a menace that should be fought from all fronts. Self-regulation is the best bet to address money laundering for legal practitioners.

This paper is the work of the author and has not been submitted for publication elsewhere.

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.

This study aims to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of auditor mandatory suspicious activity reporting versus the exercise of professional judgement in the anti-money laundering regimes of the UK and the USA.

The research draws upon the following sources. Firstly, statistics provided by the UK National Crime Agency, 2019 (NCA) regarding suspicious activity report (SAR) filing rates. Secondly, anti-money laundering legislation in the USA and UK. Thirdly, statements made in the political domain in the USA, particularly those which raised constitutional concerns during the progress of the Patriot Act 2001. Finally, statements and recommendations by a UK Parliamentary Commission enquiring into the effectiveness of the suspicious activity reporting regime.

The UK reporting regime does not accommodate professional judgement, resulting in the filing of SARs with limited intelligence value. This contrasts with discretionary reporting in the USA: voluntary reporting guides and influences auditor behaviour rather than mandating it. Defensive filing by UK auditors (defence to anti-money launderings [DAMLs]) has increased in recent years but the number of SARs filed has declined.

The study evaluates auditor behavioural responses to legislative regimes which mandate or alternatively accommodate discretion in the reporting suspicion of money laundering. Consideration of constitutional and judicial activism in this context is a novel contribution to the literature. For its theoretical framework the study uses Foucault’s concept of discipline of the self to evaluate auditor behaviour under both regimes.

We are living in a time when there is a stronger requirement for co-operation to fight organized crimes and the resulting flow of illicit funds. This is due to the globalization and interconnection between world economies and financial systems, as well as with the new technologies that allow rapid movement of funds around the globe. From the early beginning, Jordan realized the importance of providing anti-money laundering technical assistance, especially at the international level. The reason for this comes from Jordan’s strong belief that money laundering crimes can be fought domestically as well as internationally, particularly by combining efforts between Jordan and other countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development that Jordan has witnessed in the fighting of money laundering.

This paper relies on various laws that tackle organized anti-money laundering in Jordan before 2007, with the Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Law for 2007 as the primary source of information.

Before 2007, Jordan fought money laundering through a group of laws that are indirectly concerned with combating money laundering. While these laws govern certain crimes, they managed to fight money laundering indirectly. By the year 2007, the Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering Law was passed and published on the official gazette on June 17, 2007. This law became effective after 30 days from that date. The Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering Law is one of the needed laws to keep a safe financial environment. Jordan’s obligation in accordance to the international conventions has made the country join and ratify the efforts, resulting in the issuing of the law. Since then, this law has become concerned with anti-money laundering in Jordan.

This paper provides an examination of the system in Jordan to combat money laundering before and after 2007. It is hoped that the content of this paper can provide some insight into this particular area for practitioners, academics, policy makers and legal advisers, not only in Jordan but also elsewhere. There will be significant interest in how Jordan has been developing the anti-money laundering system because of the international nature of the crime and its seriousness.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the Jordanian anti-money laundering law and its instructions on the Jordanian banking industry. The anti-money laundering law in Jordan is newly enacted, but there are new developments not covered by the law. For instance, the revolutionary wave known as the Arab Spring surrounding Jordan has increased the crime rates in Jordan, and it has also reduced international coordination and cooperation to encounter money laundering operations. The emergence of new means for money transfer is affecting the efficiency and speed of bank transfers. Subsequently, the impact of the law on Jordanian banks is unknown.

This paper relies on the Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Law 2007 as a primary source of information. The relevant Jordanian anti-money laundering instructions that have directly been affecting banks include the Jordanian Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Instructions Number (51) 2010. These instructions were considered the most important legislation for the purpose of this paper.

While the Jordanian anti-money laundering law is based on certain principles, the effectiveness of the law is unknown. The Arab Spring, particularly the Syrian revolution, has negatively increased the crime rates and money laundering activities in Jordan. To make matters worse, the international cooperation and coordination between countries in combating money laundering are not at the required level, and this has encouraged money laundering groups to exploit the situation. Only time will tell whether the banks will be able to cope sufficiently with the increased anti-money laundering obligations. Obviously, it is critical at this stage to establish effective coordination between legislators, regulators and the banking industry to minimize problems encountered by the banks, thereby to ensure effective implementation of the law.

This paper provides an examination of the impact of the Jordanian anti-money laundering law that has directly affected banks. It is hoped that this paper would provide some insight into this particular area for academics, practitioners, the legal advisers, banks and policy-makers not only in Jordan but also elsewhere. In view of the international nature of money laundering and banking, there will be significant interest in how the anti-money laundering law affects banks operation in Jordan.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Bangladesh and India in efforts of combating money laundering by these countries through a comparative assessment of several aspects of both FIUs.

The two FIUs are compared by using a “multiple case design” method of assessment. The framework for assessment was developed following the earlier models developed by scholars and recommendations of international institutions working on money laundering. Publicly available information from the respective websites of FIUs and annual reports has been used to complete the study.

The study has found that FIUs of both countries have improved significantly in fulfilling their mandates. There are several commonalities and differences between the two agencies. Despite showing improvement in several respects, both countries need to address certain basic deficiencies of the existing framework to make the agencies more effective.

It is supposed that this study will assist both countries to transform their existing FIUs to robust agencies in anti-money laundering efforts by taking care of the weaknesses identified here. It is hoped that the present study will encourage similar studies regarding the problematic areas of FIUs of Bangladesh and India as identified and in respect of FIUs of other countries.

This paper aims to focus on the role of reporting entities, e.g. banks, other financial institutions, legal professionals, in the prevention of criminal offenses connected with money laundering in Croatia and Slovenia.

The methodology of the economic analysis of law is used to analyze the effectiveness of laws in Croatia and Slovenia regarding the definition and the role of reporting entities in money laundering prevention in these two countries. A comparative approach is also used as the authors compare the effectiveness of Slovenian and Croatian legal systems and their compatibility with EC Directive (2015/849).

The authors find that banks have long clinged to the guaranteed confidentiality of deposits, which means that money laundering has undoubtedly brought them some benefits in the short term. The prevention of money laundering for banks is not free. The measures imposed on the bank by legislation (encouraging these banks to a higher level of demand for preventive behavior) entail costs that go beyond the direct, visible benefits of the implemented measures. However, a functioning and stable financial system has a number of externalities, of course, which are also enjoyed by banks.

The paper focuses on economic analysis of Croatian and Slovenian legal systems with regards of the regulation of role of reporting entities in the prevention of money laundering which produce certain costs and benefits for the financial system and reporting entities as whole. The paper also uses the comparative approach to address the problem of compatibility of Croatian and Slovenian legal system with the EC Directive (2015/849).

In the last decade, the forces of globalisation have created new opportunities for organised crime and new challenges for legal systems and law enforcement. While the phenomenon of organised crime is not new, it has grown in recent years and is now generating and laundering huge illegal profits, and subsequently investing them in legal business.