Pub Date : 2023-08-07DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0098
Ogochukwu Monye
Purpose The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently relaunched Nigeria’s cashless policy initiative which seeks to reduce financial crime and tax avoidance, decrease cash dependency, advance the adoption of digital financial services (DFS), decrease the risks to the payment system and foster financial inclusion. This study aims to identify the unique challenges of going cashless in Nigeria, particularly in terms of infrastructural, exclusionary and cost implications of the policy on the average citizens. Design/methodology/approach The author applies a doctrinal research methodology to identify and reflect on key challenges of the cashless policy from the economic, regulatory and transactional perspectives. Findings The cashless policy initiative in Nigeria heralds value for financial integrity, financial policy regulation and user convenience. The mode of introduction, however, ushers in significant challenges and hardly considers Nigeria’s inadequate payment infrastructure, persistent financial exclusion, low levels of financial and digital literacy and capability, high cost of using DFS and pervasive proclivity for cash. As Nigerians adjust albeit inconveniently to the policy, the CBN can ameliorate the hardship by strengthening the payment infrastructure, particularly for digital payments, fostering consumer trust by safeguarding user funds and enabling consumer preferences. Research limitations/implications Research materials include the national regulator’s policy documents and newspaper articles that have not been published in formal reports but non-the-less adequately mirror the policy intention of the CBN and the lived experiences of Nigerians. Practical implications This study identifies the practical steps and regulatory measures that the CBN can take to improve acceptance and meaningful and sustainable adoption of the cashless policy by the majority of Nigerians. Social implications The recommendations that are proffered provide some rich insights to inform regulatory direction for the CBN to seamlessly phase-in the cashless policy and consequently drive down financial exclusion in Nigeria. Originality/value This study contributes to the policy discussion around the introduction of the cashless Nigeria project. The doctrinal research method highlights the policy intentions of the regulator in juxtaposition with lived experiences of Nigerians. This study offers recommendations to bolster financial inclusion, stability and integrity.
{"title":"Cashless policy initiative in Nigeria: outline of crucial socio-economic and regulatory considerations","authors":"Ogochukwu Monye","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0098","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently relaunched Nigeria’s cashless policy initiative which seeks to reduce financial crime and tax avoidance, decrease cash dependency, advance the adoption of digital financial services (DFS), decrease the risks to the payment system and foster financial inclusion. This study aims to identify the unique challenges of going cashless in Nigeria, particularly in terms of infrastructural, exclusionary and cost implications of the policy on the average citizens.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The author applies a doctrinal research methodology to identify and reflect on key challenges of the cashless policy from the economic, regulatory and transactional perspectives.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The cashless policy initiative in Nigeria heralds value for financial integrity, financial policy regulation and user convenience. The mode of introduction, however, ushers in significant challenges and hardly considers Nigeria’s inadequate payment infrastructure, persistent financial exclusion, low levels of financial and digital literacy and capability, high cost of using DFS and pervasive proclivity for cash. As Nigerians adjust albeit inconveniently to the policy, the CBN can ameliorate the hardship by strengthening the payment infrastructure, particularly for digital payments, fostering consumer trust by safeguarding user funds and enabling consumer preferences.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000Research materials include the national regulator’s policy documents and newspaper articles that have not been published in formal reports but non-the-less adequately mirror the policy intention of the CBN and the lived experiences of Nigerians.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This study identifies the practical steps and regulatory measures that the CBN can take to improve acceptance and meaningful and sustainable adoption of the cashless policy by the majority of Nigerians.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000The recommendations that are proffered provide some rich insights to inform regulatory direction for the CBN to seamlessly phase-in the cashless policy and consequently drive down financial exclusion in Nigeria.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study contributes to the policy discussion around the introduction of the cashless Nigeria project. The doctrinal research method highlights the policy intentions of the regulator in juxtaposition with lived experiences of Nigerians. This study offers recommendations to bolster financial inclusion, stability and integrity.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"192 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78030789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-24DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-04-2023-0078
Aline Renda, S. Caneppele
Purpose Criminals have quickly discovered the advantage of crypto assets, with its pseudo-anonymity, untraceability and the ability to freely exchange crypto assets across borders, which makes it an ideal tool for money laundering activities. Switzerland has a technology-neutral framework, and crypto assets are regulated by the existing anti-money laundering (AML) legislation. The purpose of this paper is to gain insights into the industry adoption of measurements to prevent money laundering through crypto assets and if they are compliant with national and international AML regulations. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with participants having expertise in compliance, AML and crypto assets with focus on Switzerland. The interviews were analyzed using the thematic analysis. Findings The experts have a general consensus that Switzerland is a pioneer when it comes to regulating crypto assets. It is perceived that legislations are released without industry consultation and that AML processes for fiat transactions also work for crypto assets, which is not the case. The results show that the industry wants a consortium to fight money laundering in crypto assets in Switzerland. The current measures to identify money laundering are not optimal, yet, it is the best solution and according to national and international regulations the businesses are perceived to be compliant. Originality/value This paper offers new insights on the challenges of AML regulations in crypto assets, given the limited information available. It also provides good practice examples for addressing these challenges, benefiting policymakers, regulators and practitioners in the crypto asset ecosystem.
{"title":"Compliant or not compliant? The challenges of anti-money laundering regulations in crypto assets: the case of Switzerland","authors":"Aline Renda, S. Caneppele","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-04-2023-0078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-04-2023-0078","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Criminals have quickly discovered the advantage of crypto assets, with its pseudo-anonymity, untraceability and the ability to freely exchange crypto assets across borders, which makes it an ideal tool for money laundering activities. Switzerland has a technology-neutral framework, and crypto assets are regulated by the existing anti-money laundering (AML) legislation. The purpose of this paper is to gain insights into the industry adoption of measurements to prevent money laundering through crypto assets and if they are compliant with national and international AML regulations.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with participants having expertise in compliance, AML and crypto assets with focus on Switzerland. The interviews were analyzed using the thematic analysis.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The experts have a general consensus that Switzerland is a pioneer when it comes to regulating crypto assets. It is perceived that legislations are released without industry consultation and that AML processes for fiat transactions also work for crypto assets, which is not the case. The results show that the industry wants a consortium to fight money laundering in crypto assets in Switzerland. The current measures to identify money laundering are not optimal, yet, it is the best solution and according to national and international regulations the businesses are perceived to be compliant.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper offers new insights on the challenges of AML regulations in crypto assets, given the limited information available. It also provides good practice examples for addressing these challenges, benefiting policymakers, regulators and practitioners in the crypto asset ecosystem.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77382508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-11DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0009
A. Alshira’h
Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between trust in government, value added tax (VAT) compliance costs and VAT compliance in the Jordanian retail industry context. Design/methodology/approach The study makes use of an online questionnaire survey to collect the required data, and the research model is eventually validated based on 189 responses gathered from the retail industry in Jordan. The obtained data was analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling to examine the effects of trust in government and costs of VAT compliance on VAT compliance. Findings The results showed that VAT compliance costs have no significant influence on VAT compliance; while trust in government was found statistically positive significant with VAT compliance. Practical implications This study’s results are expected to have implications for VAT authorities and policymakers in Arab countries, like Jordan in their policies formulation to enhance VAT compliance in retail industry. The study’s findings are alerting the policymakers for the positive noneconomic consequences of VAT compliance. It provides evidence that trust in government can increase VAT compliance. Social implications The results of the research have a plentiful of social implications. Higher VAT compliance will enable higher levels of government spending on a many of social targets such as health, education, welfare programs and infrastructure. Originality/value While the study builds on recent research examining how to incentivize VAT compliance, it simultaneously seeks to make three contributions. First, the study design aims to apply recent advances in behavioral sciences (impact of trust in government and VAT compliance costs) in a policy area that has not seen much use of such interventions in the Jordanian context (i.e. VAT compliance). Second, the study is government procedures pertinent in the sense that it aims to increase the effectiveness of existing government policies by complementing them with behavioral primes. Third, there is nearly no literature found applying this topic in a developing country such as Jordan. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that examines the trust in government and VAT compliance costs on VAT compliance among Jordanian retail industry. Thus, this paper contributes to mitigating the literature gap by providing empirical evidence concerning the influence of trust in government and VAT compliance costs on the retail industry VAT compliance in the Jordanian context.
{"title":"How can value added tax compliance be incentivized? An experimental examination of trust in government and tax compliance costs","authors":"A. Alshira’h","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0009","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to investigate the relationship between trust in government, value added tax (VAT) compliance costs and VAT compliance in the Jordanian retail industry context.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The study makes use of an online questionnaire survey to collect the required data, and the research model is eventually validated based on 189 responses gathered from the retail industry in Jordan. The obtained data was analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling to examine the effects of trust in government and costs of VAT compliance on VAT compliance.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results showed that VAT compliance costs have no significant influence on VAT compliance; while trust in government was found statistically positive significant with VAT compliance.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This study’s results are expected to have implications for VAT authorities and policymakers in Arab countries, like Jordan in their policies formulation to enhance VAT compliance in retail industry. The study’s findings are alerting the policymakers for the positive noneconomic consequences of VAT compliance. It provides evidence that trust in government can increase VAT compliance.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000The results of the research have a plentiful of social implications. Higher VAT compliance will enable higher levels of government spending on a many of social targets such as health, education, welfare programs and infrastructure.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000While the study builds on recent research examining how to incentivize VAT compliance, it simultaneously seeks to make three contributions. First, the study design aims to apply recent advances in behavioral sciences (impact of trust in government and VAT compliance costs) in a policy area that has not seen much use of such interventions in the Jordanian context (i.e. VAT compliance). Second, the study is government procedures pertinent in the sense that it aims to increase the effectiveness of existing government policies by complementing them with behavioral primes. Third, there is nearly no literature found applying this topic in a developing country such as Jordan. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that examines the trust in government and VAT compliance costs on VAT compliance among Jordanian retail industry. Thus, this paper contributes to mitigating the literature gap by providing empirical evidence concerning the influence of trust in government and VAT compliance costs on the retail industry VAT compliance in the Jordanian context.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86348299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-06DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0083
Nisit Panthamit, Paisarn Panthamitr, Guowei Tian
Purpose This study aims to convey the understanding of the ecosystem – how “hundi” works on the border trade between Myanmar and northern Thailand, which is an informal transfer system and is widely used as an alternative banking system. Even though the role of hundi is unable to declare the sources of money under the standard settlement of formal banking system, a failure to operate of its official mechanism are carrying using hundi, as a financial platform across the border between Thailand and Myanmar. This study surveys the best practice mechanism for the regional and international cooperation. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on relevant literature, open-source reporting, and interviews with more than 30 interviewees on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Interviewees includes border-trader, money changer, money transfer operators, business leaders, hundi operators, immigrant labors, government officials and commercial banking staffs. Findings This study provides a unique insight of hundi system, which work as the alternative mode of formal banking. It is an informal fund transfer payment platform used on the border between Thailand and Myanmar in the past five decades. It insists that hundi plays a significant role in both substitution and complementary on the trade and payment across the border of Myanmar–Thailand. Even though confronting with the barriers of financing of terrorism (anti money laundering AML/combating the financing of terrorism CFT) risk, the competition with the expanding and modernizing formal banking sector, and the introduction of Fintech and mobile money services. In the short term, these are unlikely to eliminate the hundi system completely, but may instead push hundi operators towards adopting these networks and technologies in their own operations. Social implications This paper will be a useful source for academics, development professionals, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and business actors who are seeking to understand Myanmar’s informal payment system, hundi. Originality/value This is the latest work for border trade payment or trade financing role of hundi which has hidden under the informal market of the border for several decades. It has few research of hundi on border trade and payment, particularly after the military coup in 2021 which made hundi return to be on the spotlight and simultaneous mechanism of border trade and payment ecosystem of Myanmar. This paper will be a useful source for academics, development professionals, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and business actors who are eager to understand Myanmar’s informal payment system, hundi, especially during the hardship.
{"title":"Hundi payment mechanism on the border trade between Myanmar and Northern Thailand: what you do not know about?","authors":"Nisit Panthamit, Paisarn Panthamitr, Guowei Tian","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0083","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to convey the understanding of the ecosystem – how “hundi” works on the border trade between Myanmar and northern Thailand, which is an informal transfer system and is widely used as an alternative banking system. Even though the role of hundi is unable to declare the sources of money under the standard settlement of formal banking system, a failure to operate of its official mechanism are carrying using hundi, as a financial platform across the border between Thailand and Myanmar. This study surveys the best practice mechanism for the regional and international cooperation.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This paper draws on relevant literature, open-source reporting, and interviews with more than 30 interviewees on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Interviewees includes border-trader, money changer, money transfer operators, business leaders, hundi operators, immigrant labors, government officials and commercial banking staffs.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This study provides a unique insight of hundi system, which work as the alternative mode of formal banking. It is an informal fund transfer payment platform used on the border between Thailand and Myanmar in the past five decades. It insists that hundi plays a significant role in both substitution and complementary on the trade and payment across the border of Myanmar–Thailand. Even though confronting with the barriers of financing of terrorism (anti money laundering AML/combating the financing of terrorism CFT) risk, the competition with the expanding and modernizing formal banking sector, and the introduction of Fintech and mobile money services. In the short term, these are unlikely to eliminate the hundi system completely, but may instead push hundi operators towards adopting these networks and technologies in their own operations.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000This paper will be a useful source for academics, development professionals, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and business actors who are seeking to understand Myanmar’s informal payment system, hundi.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This is the latest work for border trade payment or trade financing role of hundi which has hidden under the informal market of the border for several decades. It has few research of hundi on border trade and payment, particularly after the military coup in 2021 which made hundi return to be on the spotlight and simultaneous mechanism of border trade and payment ecosystem of Myanmar. This paper will be a useful source for academics, development professionals, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and business actors who are eager to understand Myanmar’s informal payment system, hundi, especially during the hardship.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"99 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76522086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-05DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0015
Imen Khelil, Anis El Ammari, Mohamed Amine Bouraoui, Hichem Khlif
Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between digitalization and money laundering and tests whether ethical behaviour of firms and corruption moderate this association. Design/methodology/approach The sample includes 114 countries during 2016. Basel Anti-Money Laundering Report for 2016 is used to collect data concerning money laundering. Digitalization proxies are collected from digital adoption index from the World Bank for 2016. Finally, the remaining variables are gathered from the Global Competitiveness Report for the same year. Findings Results show negative and significant associations between the overall digitalization score and sub-scores dealing with digitalization adoption by businesses, people and government and money laundering. When testing for the moderating effect of corruption, the negative and significant association remains stable for both low and high corrupt environments for the overall digitalization score and sub-scores dealing digitalization adoption by businesses and people and money laundering. Similarly, ethical behaviour of firms does not moderate the association between digitalization (overall index and digitalization by business and people) and money laundering, as the relationship remains negative and significant for low and high ethical behaviour sub-samples. By contrast, the association becomes insignificant between digitalization adoption by government and money laundering for countries characterized by high corruption and low ethical behaviour of firms, while it is negative and significant for countries characterized by low corruption and high ethical behaviour firms. Originality/value These findings confirm that digitalization effort represents a crucial arm to combat money laundering. It also emphasizes the interrelation that may exist between digitalization effort in governmental institutions and institutional environment, as low levels of money laundering cannot be reached if the digitalization effort undertaken by governments is not supported by low corruption and ethical business environment.
{"title":"Digitalization and money laundering: the moderating effects of ethical behaviour of firms and corruption","authors":"Imen Khelil, Anis El Ammari, Mohamed Amine Bouraoui, Hichem Khlif","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0015","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to investigate the relationship between digitalization and money laundering and tests whether ethical behaviour of firms and corruption moderate this association.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The sample includes 114 countries during 2016. Basel Anti-Money Laundering Report for 2016 is used to collect data concerning money laundering. Digitalization proxies are collected from digital adoption index from the World Bank for 2016. Finally, the remaining variables are gathered from the Global Competitiveness Report for the same year.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Results show negative and significant associations between the overall digitalization score and sub-scores dealing with digitalization adoption by businesses, people and government and money laundering. When testing for the moderating effect of corruption, the negative and significant association remains stable for both low and high corrupt environments for the overall digitalization score and sub-scores dealing digitalization adoption by businesses and people and money laundering. Similarly, ethical behaviour of firms does not moderate the association between digitalization (overall index and digitalization by business and people) and money laundering, as the relationship remains negative and significant for low and high ethical behaviour sub-samples. By contrast, the association becomes insignificant between digitalization adoption by government and money laundering for countries characterized by high corruption and low ethical behaviour of firms, while it is negative and significant for countries characterized by low corruption and high ethical behaviour firms.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000These findings confirm that digitalization effort represents a crucial arm to combat money laundering. It also emphasizes the interrelation that may exist between digitalization effort in governmental institutions and institutional environment, as low levels of money laundering cannot be reached if the digitalization effort undertaken by governments is not supported by low corruption and ethical business environment.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75111425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-04DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0089
M. Feridun
Purpose The purpose of this article is to make a contribution to the existing knowledge by using the unique cross-jurisdiction data drawn from the FCA’s REP-CRIM submissions to explore dynamics behind firms’ perceptions on financial crime. Capturing firm’s sentiment is notoriously challenging, and any relevant regulatory data is usually not available in the public domain. A recent exception is the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) financial crime data return (REP-CRIM) submissions which include the cross-country regulatory data on the UK financial institutions’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk. Despite a broad literature with respect to financial crime, there exists an important gap in the existing knowledge with respect to factors that are associated with the perceptions of firms with respect to jurisdiction risk, which this article aims to close. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-country regulatory data on the UK financial institutions’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk, this study empirically determines that perceptions of jurisdiction risk is significantly and positively associated with anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, as well as with tax burden on business and institutional and legal risk in the case of 165 jurisdictions. Findings The findings lend support to the proposition that unsystematic efforts and too much publicity may ascertain the high-risk image of a jurisdiction, deterring cross-border business. Policy implications that emerge from the study also add to the case for strengthening institutional and legal frameworks, as well as relieving the tax burden on doing business. Research limitations/implications Findings of the present study should be interpreted with caution, as the dependent variable used in the present study reflects UK firms’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk, which may depend on various factors such as different risk appetites and the countries in which firms carry out business, and not necessarily the actual level of risks based on financial crime statistics. For example, a jurisdiction which may indeed be considered high risk, would not necessarily be ranking high on the FCA’s list of UK firms’ jurisdiction risk perceptions due to few firms operating in that particular country. As a result, the list could differ from the Financial Action Task Force’s black and grey lists. Findings based on the regulatory data on the UK financial institutions’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk should be considered preliminary in nature, given that they are based on a single year cross sectional data. As global and country-level AML/CFT efforts continue to intensify and as more regulatory data becomes publicly available, it would be imperative to bring further empirical evidence to bear on the question of whether financial crime perceptions are likely to be more pronounced for jurisdictions where AML/CFT efforts are more intensified. Likewise, from a policy standpoin
{"title":"Perceptions on jurisdiction risk: a cross-country analysis","authors":"M. Feridun","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0089","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this article is to make a contribution to the existing knowledge by using the unique cross-jurisdiction data drawn from the FCA’s REP-CRIM submissions to explore dynamics behind firms’ perceptions on financial crime. Capturing firm’s sentiment is notoriously challenging, and any relevant regulatory data is usually not available in the public domain. A recent exception is the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) financial crime data return (REP-CRIM) submissions which include the cross-country regulatory data on the UK financial institutions’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk. Despite a broad literature with respect to financial crime, there exists an important gap in the existing knowledge with respect to factors that are associated with the perceptions of firms with respect to jurisdiction risk, which this article aims to close.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using cross-country regulatory data on the UK financial institutions’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk, this study empirically determines that perceptions of jurisdiction risk is significantly and positively associated with anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, as well as with tax burden on business and institutional and legal risk in the case of 165 jurisdictions.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings lend support to the proposition that unsystematic efforts and too much publicity may ascertain the high-risk image of a jurisdiction, deterring cross-border business. Policy implications that emerge from the study also add to the case for strengthening institutional and legal frameworks, as well as relieving the tax burden on doing business.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000Findings of the present study should be interpreted with caution, as the dependent variable used in the present study reflects UK firms’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk, which may depend on various factors such as different risk appetites and the countries in which firms carry out business, and not necessarily the actual level of risks based on financial crime statistics. For example, a jurisdiction which may indeed be considered high risk, would not necessarily be ranking high on the FCA’s list of UK firms’ jurisdiction risk perceptions due to few firms operating in that particular country. As a result, the list could differ from the Financial Action Task Force’s black and grey lists. Findings based on the regulatory data on the UK financial institutions’ perceptions of jurisdiction risk should be considered preliminary in nature, given that they are based on a single year cross sectional data. As global and country-level AML/CFT efforts continue to intensify and as more regulatory data becomes publicly available, it would be imperative to bring further empirical evidence to bear on the question of whether financial crime perceptions are likely to be more pronounced for jurisdictions where AML/CFT efforts are more intensified. Likewise, from a policy standpoin","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88462039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-04DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-12-2022-0168
Kristian Keskitalo, Jaakko Väyrynen
Purpose This paper aims to analyse the virtual currency regulation especially in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Different member states had a bit differently incorporated regulation of AMLD5. Finland has gone the furthest in regulation and even issuers of virtual currency are under the Finnish regulation. Design/methodology/approach In one hand, the study approach is legal dogmatics, but in other hand it is comparative legal research. Both approaches can be found in this paper. Findings The EEA is going from a more fragmented regulatory landscape based on 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive to a more uniform regulatory approach provided by a legislative package that regulates crypto assets more broadly, coupled with an overhaul of the anti-money laundering rules, bringing them into a single European rulebook. Finland has taken a step further in this matter. Therefore, it would be reasonable for the AMLD5 scope to be expanded in this respect. It is a welcome development that the regulation will be unified and that investor protection will be better taken into account in the future as well. Originality/value This paper gives a picture of what kind of challenges is there in Fennoscandic in terms of money laundering regulation of virtual currencies. On the other hand, this paper brings into the discussion the rather clever solutions of Fennoscandic (especially Finland) regarding money laundering of virtual currencies.
{"title":"Fennoscandic comparison on KYC obligations of a virtual currency provider","authors":"Kristian Keskitalo, Jaakko Väyrynen","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-12-2022-0168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-12-2022-0168","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to analyse the virtual currency regulation especially in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Different member states had a bit differently incorporated regulation of AMLD5. Finland has gone the furthest in regulation and even issuers of virtual currency are under the Finnish regulation.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000In one hand, the study approach is legal dogmatics, but in other hand it is comparative legal research. Both approaches can be found in this paper.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The EEA is going from a more fragmented regulatory landscape based on 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive to a more uniform regulatory approach provided by a legislative package that regulates crypto assets more broadly, coupled with an overhaul of the anti-money laundering rules, bringing them into a single European rulebook. Finland has taken a step further in this matter. Therefore, it would be reasonable for the AMLD5 scope to be expanded in this respect. It is a welcome development that the regulation will be unified and that investor protection will be better taken into account in the future as well.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper gives a picture of what kind of challenges is there in Fennoscandic in terms of money laundering regulation of virtual currencies. On the other hand, this paper brings into the discussion the rather clever solutions of Fennoscandic (especially Finland) regarding money laundering of virtual currencies.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80761766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-23DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0090
Abdirahman Hassan Hersi
Purpose Concerns on money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing increased, as ML accounted 2%–5% of the global GDP, with Switzerland, the USA, Canada, India and Russia having high laundering rates. Banks were fined over US$320bn in 2008, but money laundering still accounted for 3.6% of global GDP in 2009, thereby indicating the need for effective regimes. Therefore, this study aims to critically analyze the antimoney laundering (AML)/CFT regime of Somalia, identify loopholes in the regime, raise awareness and propose recommendations for regime improvement. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative research approach is used to compare Somalia’s AML/CFT regime with the corresponding regime of Malaysia through the black letter method combined with document analysis. Malaysia is selected as a benchmark for two reasons: firstly, it is an Islamic country like Somalia, and secondly, Malaysia has complied with integrity-related standards. Findings This study revealed that an impactful AML/CTF regime is reached by closing loopholes in the law, reevaluating and improving regulatory agencies and measures, facilitating formal financial services and collaborating with regional and international standard setters. According to the results, Somalia AML/CFT regime is counterproductive in criminalizing offenses; regulating digital currencies and mobile money, disclosures and nonfinancial business and provisions; and governing training requirements for regulatory agencies and financial institutions. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind in the study of Somalia’s regime building. Also, this study incorporates rich scholarly discourse on effective regime building.
{"title":"A critical analysis of Somalia’s current antimoney laundering and counter financing of terrorism regime: a comparative study with Malaysia","authors":"Abdirahman Hassan Hersi","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-05-2023-0090","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Concerns on money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing increased, as ML accounted 2%–5% of the global GDP, with Switzerland, the USA, Canada, India and Russia having high laundering rates. Banks were fined over US$320bn in 2008, but money laundering still accounted for 3.6% of global GDP in 2009, thereby indicating the need for effective regimes. Therefore, this study aims to critically analyze the antimoney laundering (AML)/CFT regime of Somalia, identify loopholes in the regime, raise awareness and propose recommendations for regime improvement.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The qualitative research approach is used to compare Somalia’s AML/CFT regime with the corresponding regime of Malaysia through the black letter method combined with document analysis. Malaysia is selected as a benchmark for two reasons: firstly, it is an Islamic country like Somalia, and secondly, Malaysia has complied with integrity-related standards.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This study revealed that an impactful AML/CTF regime is reached by closing loopholes in the law, reevaluating and improving regulatory agencies and measures, facilitating formal financial services and collaborating with regional and international standard setters. According to the results, Somalia AML/CFT regime is counterproductive in criminalizing offenses; regulating digital currencies and mobile money, disclosures and nonfinancial business and provisions; and governing training requirements for regulatory agencies and financial institutions.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind in the study of Somalia’s regime building. Also, this study incorporates rich scholarly discourse on effective regime building.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90684486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-15DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0006
O. Bondarenko, M.C. Utkina, O. Reznik, M. Dumchikov
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a new methodology for the interaction of law enforcement agencies with each other, financial institutions and other legal entities in the field of counteracting and combating the legalization of criminal income as a prerequisite for increasing the effectiveness of their activity in the area of countering and combating money laundering, which will improve the conditions for the development of the financial system and increase the level of living of the population of Ukraine. Design/methodology/approach An interdisciplinary approach was used during the writing of the paper. In particular, legal techniques, analysis and generalization, sociological research, questionnaires, etc., were used. Findings This paper demonstrates the need for a comprehensive approach to effectively building cooperation between law enforcement agencies in another money laundering. A proposal is made to improve the interaction between law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and other legal entities by creating a single database of information on money laundering and suspicious transactions and involving financial intelligence units in the process of investigating cases of money laundering. Practical implications Law enforcement agencies can use the proposed approach to ensure the effectiveness of their activities in counteracting and combating money laundering. Originality/value The authors have developed a new approach to improving the interaction of law enforcement agencies in the field of counteracting and combating money laundering, which involves the creation of a single database of information on money laundering and suspicious transactions, as well as the involvement of financial intelligence units in the process of detecting and investigating cases of money laundering.
{"title":"Mechanisms for interaction of law enforcement agencies in the field of countering money laundering","authors":"O. Bondarenko, M.C. Utkina, O. Reznik, M. Dumchikov","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-01-2023-0006","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to develop a new methodology for the interaction of law enforcement agencies with each other, financial institutions and other legal entities in the field of counteracting and combating the legalization of criminal income as a prerequisite for increasing the effectiveness of their activity in the area of countering and combating money laundering, which will improve the conditions for the development of the financial system and increase the level of living of the population of Ukraine.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000An interdisciplinary approach was used during the writing of the paper. In particular, legal techniques, analysis and generalization, sociological research, questionnaires, etc., were used.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This paper demonstrates the need for a comprehensive approach to effectively building cooperation between law enforcement agencies in another money laundering. A proposal is made to improve the interaction between law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and other legal entities by creating a single database of information on money laundering and suspicious transactions and involving financial intelligence units in the process of investigating cases of money laundering.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000Law enforcement agencies can use the proposed approach to ensure the effectiveness of their activities in counteracting and combating money laundering.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The authors have developed a new approach to improving the interaction of law enforcement agencies in the field of counteracting and combating money laundering, which involves the creation of a single database of information on money laundering and suspicious transactions, as well as the involvement of financial intelligence units in the process of detecting and investigating cases of money laundering.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87451201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-12DOI: 10.1108/jmlc-04-2023-0071
Arij Gueddari, Sami Saafi, Ridha Nouira
Purpose The purpose of this study provide answers to the following research questions: Whether and to what extent money laundering affects the achievability and the trend of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?; Does the influence of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement differ from developing to developed countries?; How does the influence of money laundering vary among the 17 SDGs? Design/methodology/approach The paper’s analysis involves two key parts. In the first part, the authors perform a multivariate analysis to examine the influence of money laundering on the achievement of SDGs, and then in the second part, the authors make use of an ordered probit regression model to investigate the impact of money laundering on the trend of attaining each SDG. Findings Using a sample of 98 developed and developing countries, the regression results from multivariate analysis estimates show that money laundering has a strong inhibiting effect on the achievement of almost all the SDGs in the whole sample of countries and the sub-sample of developing countries, whereas no significant effect is observed for developed countries. However, for the SDG trends, the ordered probit estimates reveal that the harmful effect of money laundering occurs for all countries regardless their development level. In addition, perhaps surprisingly, the results from both the approaches yield also evidence advocating that money laundering activities might be associated with positive externalities on production and consumption. In fact, money laundering is found to have a significant positive influence on the achievement and the trend of SDG12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production). Overall, this study’s findings do have interesting policy implications, especially for developing countries. In these countries, prioritising the formulation and implementation of sound anti-money laundering policies is a necessary requirement for their progress towards achieving the SDGs. Originality/value The long-standing tradition of previous empirical studies examining the nexus between money laundering and sustainable development concentrates mainly on the economic dimension of sustainability (i.e. economic growth). However, little is known about the consequences of money laundering activities on the environment and the societies. Consequently, this study seeks to fill this gap by assessing the influence of money laundering on the achievement of the economic, environmental and social goals of sustainable development. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first integrated study to analyse the potential repercussions of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement.
{"title":"Is money laundering a hurdle to achieving Sustainable Development Goals?","authors":"Arij Gueddari, Sami Saafi, Ridha Nouira","doi":"10.1108/jmlc-04-2023-0071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc-04-2023-0071","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study provide answers to the following research questions: Whether and to what extent money laundering affects the achievability and the trend of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?; Does the influence of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement differ from developing to developed countries?; How does the influence of money laundering vary among the 17 SDGs?\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The paper’s analysis involves two key parts. In the first part, the authors perform a multivariate analysis to examine the influence of money laundering on the achievement of SDGs, and then in the second part, the authors make use of an ordered probit regression model to investigate the impact of money laundering on the trend of attaining each SDG.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Using a sample of 98 developed and developing countries, the regression results from multivariate analysis estimates show that money laundering has a strong inhibiting effect on the achievement of almost all the SDGs in the whole sample of countries and the sub-sample of developing countries, whereas no significant effect is observed for developed countries. However, for the SDG trends, the ordered probit estimates reveal that the harmful effect of money laundering occurs for all countries regardless their development level. In addition, perhaps surprisingly, the results from both the approaches yield also evidence advocating that money laundering activities might be associated with positive externalities on production and consumption. In fact, money laundering is found to have a significant positive influence on the achievement and the trend of SDG12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production). Overall, this study’s findings do have interesting policy implications, especially for developing countries. In these countries, prioritising the formulation and implementation of sound anti-money laundering policies is a necessary requirement for their progress towards achieving the SDGs.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The long-standing tradition of previous empirical studies examining the nexus between money laundering and sustainable development concentrates mainly on the economic dimension of sustainability (i.e. economic growth). However, little is known about the consequences of money laundering activities on the environment and the societies. Consequently, this study seeks to fill this gap by assessing the influence of money laundering on the achievement of the economic, environmental and social goals of sustainable development. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first integrated study to analyse the potential repercussions of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46042,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Money Laundering Control","volume":"180 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88079149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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