ABSTRACT
The international community has identified anti-money-laundering enforcement as an essential strategy against transnational crime and terrorism. This chapter examines some of the issues that flow from this approach. One of the themes in this book addresses the issue of ‘contagion and evolution’ in terms of the spread of transnational organized crime (TOC). As a bit of a twist on that theme, this chapter suggests that there is also a ‘contagion’ aspect to the international responses to these crimes as the pressures toward harmonization increase. This chapter reviews the growth and spread of the policies that build on the belief that fighting against the laundering of illicit proceeds is in fact an effective way to fight against TOC and now also to fight against terrorism. The author does not deny that there have been some successes, but encourages an examination of the ‘costs’ in comparison to the achievements. This chapter suggests that we may wish to re-examine these enforcement strategies.
