Money Laundering Bulletin

Timon Molloy, Editor

The advent season may be one of joyful anticipation but Edward Jones, MLRO and his team must gift-wrap their internal anti-bribery procedures before they can join the festivities. Sue Grossey reports on the Yuletide preparations.

There have been two cases of significant interest to practitioners in the field of criminal litigation and money laundering compliance this year, write Peter Binning and Charles Elton of Corker Binning. The first, in February, was the case of Shah v HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 31; [2010] Bus LR 1514 about the remedies available to a customer faced with a bank failing to carry out instructions and the second, in July, was the case of R v Geary [2010] EWCA Crim 1925, in which the Court of Appeal gave some useful guidance on the interpretation of “criminal property” for the purposes of “arrangements” under section 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

By Raghavendra Verma, New Delhi

Given the strong connection between tax evasion and money laundering [1], it would seem common-sense to suppose that tax cooperation agreements (TCAs) between countries where information about taxes paid or not paid is shared would be a powerful deterrent to the launderers. Yes and no, writes Alan Osborn. There has been an improvement in anti-money laundering (AML) prosecution rates in recent years while there has been a sharp rise in the number of TCAs but it may be too early to make a causal link. Some authorities and professional commentators are gung-ho about going down this route, others say that the theory is sound but the effects in practice are not what they should be.

The Law Society tackles the question head-on.

Powder, resin and tablets, the pusher’s end products, depend on a steady supply not only of raw materials, like coca leaf and opium, but also a host of precursor chemicals used in the manufacturing process. Emma Jackson looks around for the money.

Vietnam is a cash society with much still to learn about money laundering after a pump-prime start by the United Nations and World Bank as Shanelle Lamare and Keith Nuthall report.