ABSTRACT
The United States developed a rich variety of statutes and regulations prohibiting efforts to discrete and disguise transfers and deposits of proceeds of crimes. Some of these took the form of defining as crimes those actions intended to hide the connection between money and its illegal sources; others the form of mandatory regulations and reporting requirements by banks and businesses. After a general overview of these, the authors conclude, based on UNODC data, that they have been relatively ineffective. Three major reasons are: disinterest in inspecting what is moving out of a country into another; the technological and strategic sophistication of money launderers; and the inherent advantage of those who are trying to hide cash and financial transactions among the vast amount of international cargo shipments and financial transactions that take place every day.
