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Article
Publication date: 20 July 2010

Marco Arnone and Leonardo Borlini

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical assessment and outline issues in criminal regulation relating to international anti‐money laundering (AML) programs.

3846

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical assessment and outline issues in criminal regulation relating to international anti‐money laundering (AML) programs.

Design/methodology/approach

In the first part, this paper outlines the serious threats posed by transnational laundering operations in the context of economic globalization, and calls for highly co‐ordinated international responses to such a crime. The second part of the paper centres on elements of international criminal regulation of ML.

Findings

The focus is on the phenomenological aspect of ML and highlights that to a large extent it is an economic issue. Economic analysis calls for an accurate legal response, with typical trade‐offs: it should deter criminals from laundering by increasing the costs for such illicit operations, calling for enhanced regulatory and enforcement activities; however, stronger enforcement yields increased costs and reduces privacy. These features have lately inspired the recent paradigm shift from a rule‐based regulatory framework to a risk‐based approach which still represents an extremely delicate regulatory. Both at the international level and within the single domestic legal system, AML law is typically characterised by a multidisciplinary approach combining the repressive profile with preventive mechanisms: an empirical evaluation of the International Monetary Fund‐World Bank AML program is presented, where these two aspects are assessed. The non‐criminal measures recently implemented under the auspices of the main inter‐governmental public organisations with competence in these fields seem to be consistent with the insights of economic analysis. However, some key criminal issues need to be better addressed.

Originality/value

The paper offers insights into international AML programs, focusing on criminal regulation.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2015

Anna Sergi

The purpose of this paper is to consider the rationale behind the approaches to organised crime in criminal law to understand the basis of the law on conspiracy in England and…

1206

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the rationale behind the approaches to organised crime in criminal law to understand the basis of the law on conspiracy in England and Wales and why this country has refused to amend conspiracy in favour of a membership offence or a criminal enterprise model, similar to the USA’s offences.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on a legal comparison between the law of conspiracy in England and Wales and the USA’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute, as example of best practice targeting criminal enterprises. The legal comparison is also substantiated by case law examples and interviewees with prosecutors and lawyers collected both in London and in New York City.

Findings

After briefly describing how the two systems (English and American) are intended to work, the paper will develop a discussion on the difficulties and advantages of introducing a RICO-style legislation in England and Wales and shall conclude that it is the way organised crime is socially perceived in the English/British scenario that justifies the choice to remain on the level of conspiracy and not move towards membership/enterprise offences.

Research limitations/implications

This study shall be primarily intended as an opportunity to assess the criminal law tools in the fight against organised crime available in England and Wales. The comparative side of this research, the RICO statute, would require more attention which this paper cannot give for reasons of brevity. Therefore, the study is a preliminary study in comparative criminal law.

Originality/value

The central idea of this work is to suggest that differences in criminal law are based on different perceptions of the wrongfulness of the offending. For the law to change in favour of a criminal enterprise offence in England and Wales, there is a need to reshape the wrongfulness of organised crime. A study into the wrongfulness of organised crime as a criminal offence, with a comparative outlook, has never been conducted before in England and Wales.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

G.N.K. Vukor‐Quarshie

It has become increasingly popular and fashionable in Nigeria to enact penal laws which regulate and impinge on business activities. Although scattered corruption and economic…

Abstract

It has become increasingly popular and fashionable in Nigeria to enact penal laws which regulate and impinge on business activities. Although scattered corruption and economic crime provisions are found in some of the pre‐1980 statutes, the new phenomenon of enforcing economic regulations through the criminal law instrumentality in Nigeria attained great visibility from about 1984 and has become firmly entrenched in the last eight years.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2000

We conclude in Chapter One that an English criminal court is unlikely to have jurisdiction to try foreign public officials for grand corruption as their wrongful conduct would…

Abstract

We conclude in Chapter One that an English criminal court is unlikely to have jurisdiction to try foreign public officials for grand corruption as their wrongful conduct would have taken place overseas.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2001

Peter Alldridge

The G7 finance ministers, at a meeting in London on 8th May, 1998, called for international action to enhance the capacity of anti‐money‐laundering systems to deal effectively…

Abstract

The G7 finance ministers, at a meeting in London on 8th May, 1998, called for international action to enhance the capacity of anti‐money‐laundering systems to deal effectively with tax‐related crimes, with a view to achieving the following objectives: the extension of suspicious transaction reporting to money laundering related to tax offences; the permission to money‐laundering authorities to the greatest extent possible to pass information to their tax authorities to support the investigation of tax‐related crimes; and the communication of such information to other jurisdictions in ways which would allow its use by tax authorities.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1996

Michael Levi and Fangmin Ruan

China has a bad reputation — justified or not — for corruption: in a recent Transparency International survey, it was listed by US and European businesspeople as one of the three…

Abstract

China has a bad reputation — justified or not — for corruption: in a recent Transparency International survey, it was listed by US and European businesspeople as one of the three most corrupt countries in Asia, though its ranking fell slightly in 1996. A national survey revealed that ordinary Chinese regard corruption as the most serious problem after inflation, though 52 per cent expressed doubt that the Government could do anything about it. In 1995, in Beijing alone, 1,085 cases of corruption were uncovered. In 1996, in the Working Report of the Supreme Peoples's Procuratorate, the Chief Procurator Zhang Siqing observed:

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1987

J.R. Carby‐Hall

The Criminal liability of trade unions and their members.

Abstract

The Criminal liability of trade unions and their members.

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 29 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2000

Daniel Gentzik

Money laundering has become an issue of increasing concern within the jurisdictions of Germany and the UK. Following a range of international efforts to combat money laundering…

Abstract

Money laundering has become an issue of increasing concern within the jurisdictions of Germany and the UK. Following a range of international efforts to combat money laundering, both countries have implemented wide‐ranging money‐laundering provisions. A closer look at these provisions reveals that they are primarily designed to tackle organised crime. And it can safely be claimed that talk of the challenges faced by financial institutions, national economies and society as a whole has become quite fashionable nowadays in the light of professionally expanding drug cartels, arms‐dealing gangs and other forms of organised groups carrying out serious cross‐border crime. Whenever ‘organised crime’ appears to raise its ugly head, the introduction of ever‐widening and in many cases draconian measures to counter money laundering as the Achilles heel of organised crime is widely held to be fully justified.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2022

Lyndel Bates, Marina Alexander and Julianne Webster

This paper aims to explore the link between dangerous driving and other criminal behaviour.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the link between dangerous driving and other criminal behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-step process for scoping reviews to identify, summarise and classify identified literature was used. Within the 30-year timeframe (1990–2019), 12 studies met the inclusion criteria.

Findings

This review indicates that individuals who commit certain driving offences are more likely to also have a general criminal history. In particular, driving under the influence, driving unlicensed and high-range speeding offences were associated with other forms of criminal behaviour. Seven of the studies mentioned common criminological theories; however, they were not integrated well in the analysis. No studies used explanatory psychosocial theories that investigate social and contextual factors.

Research limitations/implications

Future research in this area would benefit from exploring individual and social influences that contribute to criminal behaviour in both contexts.

Practical implications

There is the potential to develop an information-led policing approach to improve safety on the roads and reduce wider offending behaviour. However, it is critical that road policing officers continue to focus on ensuring the road system is as safe as possible for users.

Originality/value

Criminal behaviour on the roads is often seen as a separate from other types of offending. This paper explores if, and how, these two types of offending are linked.

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2011

Philip Howard and Louise Dixon

The classification of criminal acts as violent or nonviolent should be a keystone of actuarial predictors of violent recidivism, as it affects their outcome measure and scoring of…

397

Abstract

Purpose

The classification of criminal acts as violent or nonviolent should be a keystone of actuarial predictors of violent recidivism, as it affects their outcome measure and scoring of criminal history, thus influencing many decisions about sentencing, release and treatment allocation. Examination of existing actuarial and clinical violence risk assessment tools and research studies reveals considerable variation in the classifications used. This paper aims to use large samples to develop an alternative, empirically grounded classification that can be used to improve actuarial predictive scores within the offender assessment system (OASys), the tool used by the National Offender Management Service of England and Wales to assess static and dynamic risk.

Design/methodology/approach

Two analytical steps are implemented. First, to identify offences that frequently involve violent acts, 230,334 OASys cases are analyzed for indicators of violent content. Second, the ability of dynamic and static risk factors to predict reoffending for various offence types is investigated, analyzing 26,619 OASys cases that have official recidivism data.

Findings

The resulting empirical classification of violent offences adds public order, criminal damage, threats/harassment, robbery/aggravated burglary and weapon possession offences to the central group of homicide and assault offences. The need to assess risk of sexual recidivism separately is discussed.

Originality/value

This study has successfully produced an offence classification for use in a new predictor of violent recidivism. The use of empirical methods to select these offences helps to maximise predictive validity.

Details

Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-6599

Keywords

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