Money Laundering Counter-Measures in the European Union: A New Paradigm of Security Governance versus Fundamental Legal Principles

The past fifteen years witnessed the emergence globally of a plethora of legislative measures aimed at countering money laundering. These developments have been inextricably linked with the growing international focus on newly perceived and/or prioritised global security threats such as organised crime and terrorism ¿ with money laundering counter-measures deemed essential to counter these threats. Taking these developments into account, this book examines in detail the evolution and content of money laundering counter-measures in the European Union. These measures constitute a new paradigm of security governance, achieved through three principal methods: criminalisation, consisting in the emergence of new criminal offences; responsibilisation, consisting in the mobilisation of the private sector to co-operate with the authorities in the fight against money laundering; and the emphasis on the administration of knowledge, through the establishment of new institutions, the financial intelligence units, with extensive powers to administer a wide range of information provided by the private sector. This paradigm may pose significant challenges to fundamental legal principles and to well-established social structures and the book attempts to address this balance. This up-to-date analysis includes the provisions of the new EU money laundering Directive which was formally adopted in December 2001.

Journal/Publisher: Kluwer Law International

Publication type: Book

Number of pages/Page range: 240

Language/s (content): English

Date of publication: 25-09-03

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Full name Valsamis MITSILEGAS

Current occupation Coordinator

University/Institution Queen Mary University

Address Mile End Road 339

Postal code E1 4NS

Country United Kingdom

Telephone +44(0) 2078825132

Fax +44(0)2089818733

Email v.mitsilegas@qmul.ac.uk