Points of Vulnerability

Abstract

Corruption and money laundering are alike in that few of those committing these crimes are convicted, and only a very small proportion of the money involved is seized. Many countries in the Asia-Pacific are yet to record a single conviction for money laundering, but it is unlikely this is because there is no money laundering going on. Similarly, the fact that countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia have yet to record a single conviction for the bribery of foreign officials is probably not because no such bribery has occurred. To what extent could the increased use of intelligence, laws, and institutions of the anti-money laundering (AML) regime enhance efforts to counter corruption? To what extent is the fight against money laundering being held back by corruption? If there are problems in these areas, what can be done to ameliorate them? This chapter is largely devoted to investigating the second and third issues: examining vulnerabilities to corruption in the AML system, and proposing how these risks might be managed.