Anti-money laundering effectiveness: assessing outcomes or ticking boxes?

Ronald F. Pol

Journal of Money Laundering Control, 2018, vol. 21, issue 2, 215-230

Abstract: Purpose - This article aims to constructively critique the new global methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of anti-money laundering regimes against defined outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - With surprisingly little discussion at the intersection of the money laundering and policy effectiveness and outcomes scholarship and practice, this article combines elements of these disciplines and recent peer-review evaluations, to qualitatively assess the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF’s) anti-money laundering “effectiveness” methodology. Findings - FATF’s “effectiveness” methodology does not yet reflect an outcome-oriented framework as it purports. Misapplication of outcome labels to outputs and activities miss an opportunity to evaluate outcomes, as the impact and effect of anti-money laundering policies. Practical implications - If the “outcomes” of the “effectiveness” framework do not match the crime and terrorism prevention policy goals of nation states, the new “main” component for assessing the effectiveness of anti-money laundering regimes potentially detracts focus and resources from, rather than towards, intended policy objectives. Originality/value - There is a dearth of scholarship whether the global anti-money laundering “effectiveness” framework is sufficiently robust to assess effectiveness as it purports. This article begins addressing that gap.

Keywords: Outcomes; Financial Action Task Force; Anti-money laundering; Counter-terrorism financing; Policy effectiveness; Profit-motivated crime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jmlcpp:jmlc-07-2017-0029

DOI: 10.1108/JMLC-07-2017-0029

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