ABSTRACT
Attempting to describe current and emerging money laundering trends has been one of the principal goals of the FATF typologies effort since the beginnings of the Task Force in the first years of the 1990s. The early emphasis on case studies and more recent focus on a thematic approach in examining typologies helped the FATF to build up a significant expertise in the methods used for money laundering. This emphasis on the methods—the ‘how-to’—of money laundering and terrorist financing has however meant less emphasis on identifying new or potential ML/TF trends in an accurate and consistent manner. While the importance of studying ML/TF methods and techniques cannot be overstated—such studies provide decision makers and operational experts with the material toward which to target policies and strategies for combating financial crime—the ‘how-to’ of ML/TF is only part of the picture.
