ABSTRACT
Illegal capital flows and money laundering were recognized as an international policy issue in the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances that was followed by substantial international developments. Money laundering in the Andean countries, as in other developing countries, transcends the financial sector; it is complex and involves the real sector to a greater extent than what is implied in the literature and in the legal transplants. All these countries have very large informal economies, a large share of which does not comply with many laws and regulations. As a result of an initiative of legal unification and in order to accomplish with the acquired compromises by signing international agreements to combat money laundering, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, the three countries that are the source of illegal cocaine, have adopted national legislations that follow the above mentioned international guidelines.
