Research and Analysis

Enhancing the Detection, Investigation and Disruption of Illicit Financial Flows from Wildlife Crime
This report is part of a research project conducted in partnership between the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The aim is to identify risks and vulnerabilities of money laundering related to wildlife crimes, and provide guidance and recommendations to enhance the financial aspect of wildlife crime investigations in the Asia-Pacific region. This report is intended for use by law enforcement agencies, FIUs, the financial sector, and relevant civil society organizations. July 2017

Reporting and Control of Physical Transfers of Currency, Bearer Negotiable Instruments, Gold, Other Precious Metals or Precious Stones through the Borders of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
March 2016

Financial flows linked to the production and trafficking of Afghan opiates
FATF Report on Financial flows linked to the production and trafficking of Afghan opiates. June 2014

Basic Manual on the Detection and Investigation of the Laundering of Crime Proceeds Using Virtual Currencies
UNODC Virtual Currencies Manual. June 2014

Pirate Trails
Tracking the Illicit Financial Flows from Pirate Activities off the Horn of Africa. A UNODC, World Bank and Interpol Joint Study. November 2013.

Risk of Money Laundering through Financial and Commercial Instruments, Version II
A manual that describes the risks of money laundering through financial and commercial instruments, which contains more than 870 warning signs or red flags. November 2013.
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An Overview of the UN C onventions and Other International Standards Concerning Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism
A practical compendium of the various international laws and standards on anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism, thematically arranged. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Programme against Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism.
(Reviewed January 2013; first compiled in February 2004)

International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) 2016
A global assessment of illicit drug-control and money laundering activities in more than 140 countries. Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, 01 March 2016. Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities. Volume II covers money laundering and financial crimes.

FATF Global Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Threat Assessment
A report by the FATF that provides an assessment of global money laundering and terrorist financing threats. July 2010.

FATF Report on Money Laundering vulnerabilities of Free Trade Zones
A report by the FATF that through a series of case studies, aims to illustrate the ways in which Free Trade Zones can be misused for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. March 2010.

FATF Guidance Document on International Best Practices: Detecting and preventing the illicit cross-border transportation of cash and bearer negotiable instruments
The FATF Guidance Document looks at international best practices relating to FATF Special Recommendation IX. [ Arabic] [ French] [ Spanish] 19 February 2010. FATF

FATF Annual Report 2009 - 2010
The FATF Annual Report looks at the highlights from the past year under the Presidency of the Netherlands. July 2010.

Money Laundering through the Football Sector
The FATF study examines why the football sector is attractive to criminals. The goal of the document is to draw attention to some of the risks in the football sector to misuse by criminals and how the problem can be dealt with. July 2009.

An Assessment of the Links between Corruption and the Implementation of Anti-Money Laundering Strategies and Measures in the ESAAMLG Region
A report by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) that represents the findings of research on the impact of corruption on the implementation of anti-money laundering (AML) strategies and measures in ESAAMLG member countries. 18 May 2009.

FATF Terrorist Financing Report
A study that examines how terrorists raise funds and the methods they use for moving funds around. Report by the Financial Action Task Force on Terrorist Financing. 29 February 2008.

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Typologies 2004-2005
Analysis of trends in money laundering and terrorism financing. Report by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. 10 June 2005.

Money Laundering Typologies 2003-2004 [ French]
Analysis of trends in money laundering. 2003-2004 Report by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. 02 July 2004.

An Overview of the UN Conventions and the International Standards Concerning Anti-Money Laundering Legislation
A practical compendium of the various international laws and standards on anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism, thematically arranged. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Programme against Money Laundering. [ Chinese] [ French] [ Russian] [ Spanish] February 2004.

Money Laundering and Related Issues in Turkmenistan (August 2002).
The third of five Central Asia briefings from the Global Programme against Money Laundering Central Asia Study Project, this report examines trends in money laundering and related crimes in Turkmenistan, and analyses national and regional responses, including the current legislation.

Money Laundering and Related Issues in Uzbekistan (June 2002).
The second of five Central Asia briefings from the Global Programme against Money Laundering Central Asia Study Project, this report examines trends in money laundering and related crimes in Uzbekistan, and analyses national and regional responses, including the current legislation.

Money Laundering and Related Issues in Kazakhstan (June 2002).
The first of five Central Asia briefings from the Global Programme against Money Laundering Central Asia Study Project, this report examines trends in money laundering and related crimes in Kazakhstan, and analyses national and regional responses, including the current legislation.

Russian Capitalism and Money-Laundering.
A study by the Global Programme against Money Laundering, Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Vienna, Austria; reviews the problem of money laundering in the Russian Federation in connection with the aspects of economic reforms and development trends in the country that may have fostered this crime. Published in Vienna March 2001. [ Russian]

Report of Minority Staff of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Report on Correspondent Banking: A Gateway for Money Laundering

Summary
U.S. banks, through the correspondent accounts they provide to foreign banks, have become conduits for dirty money flowing into the American financial system and have, as a result, facilitated illicit enterprises, including drug trafficking and financial frauds. Correspondent baking occurs when one bank provides services to another bank to move funds, exchange currencies, or carry out other financial transactions. Correspondent accounts in U.S. banks give the owners and clients of poorly regulated, poorly managed, sometimes corrupt, foreign banks with weak or no anti-money laundering controls direct access to the U.S. financial system and the freedom to move money within the United States and around the world.

This report summarizes a year-long investigation by the Minority Staff of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, under the leadership of Ranking Democrat Senator Carl Levin, into correspondent banking and its use as a tool for laundering money. It is the second of two reports compiled by the Minority Staff at Senator Levin's direction on the U.S. Banking system's vulnerabilities to money laundering. The first report, released in November 1999, resulted in Subcommittee hearings on the money laundering vulnerabilities in the private banking activities of U.S. banks.
February 5, 2001

Requests for copies can be mailed to:
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations,
193 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510

U.S. Senate Hearing: Private Banking and Money Laundering: A Case Study of Opportunities and Vulnerabilities

Summary
In November 1999, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate, held two days of hearings on the vulnerability of private banks to money laundering. The hearings culminated a year-long investigation led by Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., the senior Democrat on the Subcommittee. The hearing report contains the hearing transcripts, a lengthy staff report summarizing the investigation (page 872), statements by experts, banks and regulators, and hundreds of pages of original documents.

Private banking is a growing banking sector providing services to wealthy individuals. In exchange for returns of 20 to 25%, private banks offer clients a high degree of secrecy, their own private banker, and a wide array of services for managing their wealth, typically including offshore accounts, secret trusts, shell companies, and multi-million-dollar wire transfers -- the same tools used by money launderers. The hearing report examines four case histories in detail, taken from private bank accounts managed by Citibank, the largest bank in the United States and operator of one of the largest private banks in the world. The report looks at how Citibank Private Bank operated, and how Citibank and bank regulators oversaw its activities. Testimony is taken from Citibank CEO John Reed and several private bankers. The four case histories examine accounts belonging to senior government officials or their relatives, and highlight the vulnerability of U.S. private banks to funds tainted by foreign corruption.
November 9 and 10, 1999

Requests for copies of the hearing record can be mailed to:
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations,
193 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510

Financial Havens, Banking Secrecy and Money Laundering.
A study prepared on behalf of the United Nations under the auspices of the Global Programme against Money Laundering, Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention; Vienna, Austria. Authored by Messrs. Jack A. Blum, Michael Levi, R. Thomas Naylor and Phil Williams; Final report printed December 1998. [ Français] [ Español]

Money Laundering: the Importance of International Countermeasures.
Brief summary of the macroeconomic impacts of money laundering and an overview of the IMF's related work. Address by Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, at the Plenary Meeting of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. Paris, 10 February 1998.

Countering Money Laundering.
A comparative analysis of major international conventions against money laundering. Background paper prepared by the United Nations Secretariat for distribution at the second informal open-ended inter-sessional meeting (held in Vienna, 7-9 October 1997) in preparation for the General Assembly Special Session devoted to the fight against the illicit production, sale, demand, traffic and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and related activities. 15 August 1997. (Original: English).

Control of the Proceeds of Crime.
An overview of the problems associated with the proceeds of crime, examined from the perspective of Governments. The United Nations Economic and Social Council, Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Fifth Session, May 1996), Report of the Secretary-General. 3 April 1996.

Money Laundering: Muddying the Macroeconomy.
"Money laundering can have devastating economic consequences. Fighting it should be a priority for all countries and is not incompatible with financial market liberalization." Article based on a 1996 study by the author, Peter J. Quirk, Macroeconomic Implications of Money Laundering, IMF Working Paper 96/66 (Washington: International Monetary Fund).

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