Anti-Money Laundering – Understanding the Process

Anti-money laundering (AML) has been a hot topic for financial institutions for decades. Proceeds from these criminal activities represent an estimated 2% to 5% of global GDP. In the U.S. that’s equivalent to $800B – $2T a year, according to the U.S. Office on Drugs and Crime. Money laundering disguises the sources and destinations of these funds and fuels negative downstream effects. This includes compromised financial systems and the means to keep terrorists and crime rings in business.

Anti-money laundering (AML) refers to the laws, regulations and procedures intended to prevent criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income. Anti-money laundering laws cover a limited range of transactions and criminal behavior, but their implications are far-reaching.

The Laws and regulations surrounding AML are numerous and have progressed throughout the years. This course is aimed at understanding the stages of money-laundering, the primary methods used, the laws in place to help prevent and mitigate money laundering and identifying professions that may be most involved in money laundering. Future sessions will focus on processes for mitigating and monitoring for money-laundering.

We will use the “progression of AML chart” presented towards the end of this presentation as a framework to discuss our topic in future courses.