2 - From Stolen Cattle to Football Clubs

Summary

This chapter begins by setting out the history of AML regulation, which spans many centuries and jurisdictions. The regime we have is best understood as a product of evolution, rather than intelligent design, stemming from intuitions about complicity in crime and the benefits of financial surveillance. Section 2.1 outlines the development of thinking about money laundering as a species of complicity in the predicate crime. Section 2.2 covers the genesis of the two central tenets of the AML regime: reporting obligations, ranging from suspicious activity reporting to multiple other modes of reporting, and customer due diligence. Finally, Section 2.3 traces the genesis of the international AML regime, as relates both to substantive rules and its institutional architecture. In particular, it explores how and why the FATF, an initially ad hoc grouping convened in Paris in 1989, became the primary vehicle for the development of international standards against money laundering. The conclusion brings together the lessons that this historical experience holds for understanding the financial crime challenges of today.