ACAMS Today Magazine (Nov-Dec 2008) Vol. 7 No. 6 | Page 36

PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS The Rs of combating money laundering T he fight against money laundering and terrorist financing has taken center stage the world over. Financial institutions—banks in particular—must be involved in this fight. Traditionally, banks have been more concerned about revenue than anything else. In the past, any person could walk into a bank and open an account with a lot of cash—and no questions would be raised. The 9/11 events, however, changed the scenario. Banks must now think beyond the R of revenue generation. There are other Rs banks have to think about. Since the 9/11 events, there has been an international, concerted effort to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. Developed and developing countries alike have been concerned and have taken measures to deal with money laundering and the financing of terrorism. reg u The United Nations has taken the leading role in dealing with money laundering, not only as it relates to drug trafficking, but also to all crimes that yield illegally gained proceeds. A number of conventions have been passed such as the U.N. Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Vienna, 1988) and the U.N. Convention against Transnational Orga nized Crime (Paler mo, 2000). These two conventions defined money laundering and required that member countries criminalize it. The Vienna Convention relates money laundering to drug trafficking as the predicate offense, while the Palermo Convention broadens the scope of predicate offenses. The U.N. also passed the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (1999) and Security Council lat repu ion tatio nal risk resolution 1373 (2001), which compels all member countries to enact laws against terrorism and its financing. Other international bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Wolfsberg Group (of 11 global banks), the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Egmont Group (of 108 worldwide financial intelligence units), FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and The World Bank are all an integral part of the international effort to curb money laundering and terrorist financing. These bodies, like th