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Released: 6 April 2004
Silkscreen Consulting: CounterMoneyLaundering.Com :
6 April 2004
London / Kuala Lumpur 6 April 2004 00.00 GMT Silkscreen Consulting, the leading counter-money laundering strategists
today warned that economists' predictions of improving conditions in several
parts of the world indicate the opportunities that are developing for
cross-border money laundering. Commenting on a report by the Institute for International Economics
published in the USA last week, Nigel Morris-Cotterill, Chairman of The Anti
Money Laundering Network and Strategist with Silkscreen Consulting said in
an article in World Money Laundering Report: Online "The report seeks to identify the circumstances that would provide for
increased international trade. And that means more international funds
movements." The increased regulatory scrutiny of financial institutions in many
countries, and the resulting caution by bankers, is leading to money
launderers seeking alternatives to simple laundering by shifting funds from
bank to bank. Morris-Cotterill identified this risk in his book "How not to
be a money launderer" in 1996 but the method only gained general recognition
amongst regulators and commentators recently. The growth of internation
trade predicted in the Report would result in significant increases in both
volume and value of transactions, especially those conducted in US dollars. "Those international funds movements will mean an increased opportunity for
trade based laundering, that is by under and over-invoicing schemes,"
Morris-Cotterill warned, going on to say "Also, the disparity in interest
rates between countries demonstrates the continued risk of substantial funds
moving cross-border to attract greater returns for the same investment,
again risking shielding dirty money." Finally, the increase in trade will result in increased foreign investment,
often in countries where due diligence is at best rudimentary. This, too,
will provide opportunities for the import into those countries of money of
dubious origin, some of which may have already been exported from the
countries where the original offence took place, either through fictitious
trade (false invoicing), through transmission to accounts in other countries
or through dubious investment schemes such as some, so called, hedge funds."
Morris-Cotterill identified the demand for seed capital in developing
countries, often at a very micro finance level, as a laundering vehicle in
1999. This is a risk that has received little attention from policy makers,
regulators and commentators although there is clear evidence that such
activity is now taking place. Morris-Cotterill singles out unbranded clothing and technology products as
the most likely short term laundering mechanisms, saying that these are
commodity items that do not require complex processing (as, for example,
coffee beans do) and that can be shipped at short notice. Notes: 1. The Anti Money Laundering Network is a group of companies providing
consultancy, strategies, face to face training, e-learning, customer
profiling software, legislation and rule-making support and information
services for banks, insurance companies, law firms and accountancy
practices, all manner of financial services businesses, enforcement
agencies, government departments and regulators all over the world from
offices in London and Kuala Lumpur. 2. Nigel Morris-Cotterill is a highly regarded counter-money laundering
strategist. He is author of books, countless articles and papers and a
long-time and frequent expert contributor to news and current affairs media
including the world's most prestigious newspapers, magazines and
broadcasters. 3. Silkscreen Consulting trains customs officers and bankers dealing wth
trade related issues in identifying suspicious transactions and the creation
of systems to aid in such identification and the responses to attempts at
this method of laundering. 4. Websites: The Anti Money Laundering Network: www.antimoneylaundering.net Telephone: +44 207 107 9512; Kuala Lumpur +6 03 2142 7588 More information:
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