ACAMS Today Magazine (March-May 2011) Vol. 10 No. 2 | Page 60

AML POLICY FDIs and reputational risk for the host country The other side of the debate suggests that due to the reputational risks that jurisdictions with lax money laundering regulations and controls pose, there will be social and economic consequences including the slowing down of economic growth and development in these countries. Most financial institutions are likely to restrict transactions with businesses in these countries in order to mitigate their own risk as well as to comply with local and international AML and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations. In this case, the launderers might not even have access to investing in these jurisdictions due to prohibitions or restrictions. Also, countries that have bad reputations or adverse publicity against them are likely to be risky for businesses to invest in. Figure 2: Total number of inbound FDI projects from 2003 to 2008 Country Name Algeria 182 Antigua 0 Data and analysis Guyana 9 Country Name Number of inbound FDI projects 2003-2008 Pakistan 168 Hong Kong 685 Peru 157 Philippines 396 Poland 1385 355 Hungary 1113 Armenia 51 Iceland 14 Australia 757 India 3679 Portugal 319 Austria 496 Indonesia 393 Puerto Rico 83 Azerbaijan 116 Iran 85 Qatar 156 Bahamas 7 Ireland 732 Romania 1346 Bahrain 156 Israel 115 Russia 2166 Bangladesh 49 Italy 735 Saudi Arabia 287 Belgium 701 Japan 761 Serbia & Montenegro 305 Bermuda 6 Jordan 108 Singapore 975 Brazil 1046 Kazakhstan 162 Slovakia 505 Bulgaria 778 Kenya 67 Slovenia 109 Canada 1042 Kuwait 70 South Africa 311 Cayman Islands 3 Kyrgyzstan 19 South Korea 523 1428 Chile 226 Latvia 294 Spain China 7102 Lebanon 80 Sri Lanka 59 Colombia 243 Libya 70 Sweden 551 Croatia 196 Liechtenstein 2 Switzerland 478 Cuba 19 Lithuania 246 Syria 77 Cyprus 41 Luxembourg 71 Taiwan 415 Czech Republic 781 Macau 31 Thailand 719 Denmark 384 Macedonia 67 Tunisia 126 Dominican Republic 47 Malaysia 755 Turkey 416 Ecuador 43 Malta 36 UAE 1192 Egypt 237 Mauritius 26 UK 3040 El Salvador The data was obtained from OCO Monitor, fDi Markets which is the most comprehensive database that provides the source company, source country, destination country, number of FDI projects, as well as jobs created. In total, from 2003 to 2008, nearly 60,000 FDI projects were recorded globally. The data also was used in the working paper: Effects of Foreign Direct Investments by Multinational Companies on Company Performance and on country Economic Growth by Ayse Yuce (Ted Rogers School of Management) and Vefa Buyukalpelli (Global AML FIU, Royal Bank of Canada). 29 Mexico 922 Ukraine 522 Estonia 226 Morocco 260 Uruguay 45 Finland 179 Netherlands 611 USA 4828 France 2144 New Zealand 135 Venezuela 117 Germany 1681 Nigeria 127 Vietnam 995 Greece 197 Norway 128 Yemen 22 Oman 99 Zimbabwe 13 Table 1. TOTAL FDI (2003-2008) Total number of companies included in database 19,961 Total number of FDI projects (2003-2008) 58,204 The analysis includes a total of 58,204 foreign investment projects made by 19,961 companies from 103 countries between 2003 and 2008. Table 1 and Figure 1 illustrate the total number of inbound FDI projects between 2003 and 2008. 60 Country Name Number of inbound FDI projects 2003-2008 Argentina Global foreign direct investment patterns In order to investigate which side of the debate is closer to reality, it is imperative to examine the global foreign direct investments projects that consist of the source and destination countries, global FDI projects as well as the total amount invested across borders. Number of inbound FDI projects 2003-2008 ACAMS TODAY | MARCH–MAY 2011 | ACAMS.ORG Greenla