3 thoughts on “The failure of anti-money laundering laws”

1. D.R. Myddelton

   Posted 26/02/2010 at 14:18 | Permalink

   I think anti-money laundering regulations should be scrapped. They presume guilt of innocent people, and diminish trust between people and financial services providers. Their costs, especially compliance costs, are enormous, their benefits unproved but probably extremely small.

   I recently had to ‘register’ with a firm of solicitors the IEA was employing because our chief executive is not a trustee, as I am. What purpose was served? Box-ticking, nothing else.

   If I were a criminal attempting to launder money, I would tell lies to evade these silly laws. It’s like being asked as you enter the USA if you plan to subvert the Constitution. Only a foolish revolutionary says ‘Yes, I am’
2. Richard Wellings

   Posted 26/02/2010 at 14:41 | Permalink

   A large proportion of money laundering activity is related to the illegal drugs trade. In other words, it results from current prohibition laws. Accordingly, increasingly strict money laundering controls may be yet another example of the “ratchet effect” whereby one regulation leads to another and so on.
3. Jon Matonis

   Posted 01/03/2010 at 16:08 | Permalink

   Financial privacy and monetary freedom are rights that need to be exerted and vigilantly guarded. Prosecute the crime directly, if necessary and just, but do not sacrifice financial privacy of the innocent.

   See http://themonetaryfuture.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-underground-economy.html

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