ABSTRACT
This chapter provides how time-honoured institutions of underground banking may be enhanced by the application of new technologies, and how developments in telecommunications may facilitate the emergence of parallel payment systems beyond regulatory purview. The precise nature of electronic money, and the institutional arrangements which will provide the context for its use, are still being developed. The precise configuration of electronic money will be hotly contested. Electronic transfers move immense amounts of money around the world at the speed of light. Electronic funds transfer is not solely the province of government. Money laundering is of great concern to law enforcement agencies, and for very good reason. Success in money laundering means that detection of the predicate offence, and the identification of the offender, become that much more difficult. The growing application of telecommunications technology to the banking industry has greatly facilitated the task of money laundering.
